Lost and Found
by MidnightMorpher
Summary: Scores of demigods have been slaughtered by a boy that should have died centuries ago, and as a result, the remaining demigods are forced out of society by the humans. But when Midnight and Melody try to investigate, tragedy strikes, leaving one broken and the other dead. Recovery is already hard enough without having to track down the killer. She is about to find out the hard way.
1. Prologue

A/N: Hello, hello! It's been a while since I came here, but now I present to you the prologue of my latest fanfic! It used to be a Pokémon and Fnaf crossover, but now the Fnaf part was (mostly) scrapped. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it!

~0~

This was amazing.

This was thrilling.

This was freedom.

A boy no older than twelve raced through a forest of luscious, emerald-green trees and brilliantly colored fruits, jumping over roots and ducking under branches with the grace of an autumn leaf in a gentle breeze, drifting, twirling and dancing weightlessly. His tanned skin was shining with sweat, his hair matted against his forehead.

The wild Pokémon scampered out of the way as bare feet came thundering down their path, leaving behind a destruction of broken twigs and crushed leaves in their wake. Oro wasn't usually this careless, especially since his people were on friendly terms with the wild Pokémon in the forest that his village was situated in, but he just couldn't contain his excitement any longer! Today was the day; the day of his thirteenth birthday!

Normally, a child's thirteenth birthday would signify the change from young child to teenager, the first stages of independence and puberty. However, it was different for the members of the Nightmare Clan. Reaching the age of thirteen meant that the birthday child could begin his first descent into the mystical realm of dreams and nightmares.

No one under the age of thirteen really knew what was in that realm, or how one would enter it. Parents forbade the graduates from telling them about the ritual, for it would ruin the surprise and mystic of it. Still, with the right connections, bribes and blackmail, the young ones get smudges and smears of the graduates' experiences. A void of only blackness, in which peoples' dreams flitted around in like Woobats. Flying and chittering in an unknown language, and if one listened and looked closely, they could make out vague impressions of a person's dream; an echo of what they were seeing. The job of a member of the Nightmare Clan was to guard the dream realm, alongside the Crescent Clan.

At least, that was what they were told. Of course, there was the fact that these graduates like to prank them to take into consideration. For all they knew, there might be nothing but an empty space. Dreams that flowed by like water around stones in a river, eventually ending up in a pool of people's dreams and nightmares. That was what he envisioned it to be.

But again, all speculation.

This was why Oro was so unbelievably excited for tonight! Once everybody has retired to bed, his parents would guide him through the dream realm, with them doing all of the actual patrolling while he was shown the ropes of the job. Every day leading up to this day, he would let his mind construct a mental castle filled with snippets of information and imaginations about the ritual, then deconstruct it to rebuilt it with new information he had obtained. Every nerve in his body had tremors of excitement running up and down whenever one of his friends mentioned it.

But before the big event could happen, he had an unpleasant task to accomplish first. He had to find his brother, Azame.

Azame wasn't really their brother, but an orphan that they had found digging through their trash, bearing the mark of Mew.

They immediately knew he was bad news the moment they saw that Mark burned on his neck. Only people from the Chalfon Clan had marks like that, and they were supposedly wiped out many months ago.

The gruesome tale was retold for many days. The Chalfon Clan had housed a great number of Mew's children and descendants, and most, if not all, had the ability to change shape. The thought alone was enough to unnerve many clans, but they had never dared to drive them away, lest they invoked Mew's rage.

But one day, the entire Chalfon Clan vanished. The children, including himself, didn't know what had happened, and the adults were careful not to divulge even the slightest hint. Nevertheless, the Chalfon Clan became a thing of the past. Or so they thought.

Nobody had been comfortable with it when the clan leaders announced their adoption of that Mew boy, nor were his parents happy when it turned out that they were the ones tasked with taking care of Azame. But arguing with the clan leaders was like a child arguing with their parents (AKA a very, very bad idea), so they grudgingly accepted him into their family. The extra supplies given to help them take care of the unexpected addition didn't hurt, though.

Over the next five years, mostly everybody had more or less grown accustomed to the brooding little boy skulking around the village, but he remained suspicious.

Of what exactly, Oro wasn't sure of. But there was something in those green eyes that struck him as odd, like a gear missing in a machine, or that look an Arbok had before it struck down on its prey. Plus, there was that massacre. If whatever had happened to the Chalfon Clan was like a disease, who was to say that it wouldn't happen to him too? And what if it spread to them?

Unfortunately, he couldn't share his thoughts without sounding insane, but at least his mother seemed to share his sentiment. Her mouth always twitched into a sneer whenever she laid her eyes on him, and her demeanor towards him was usually as cold as ice. Unsurprisingly, he had mutual feelings towards her.

But that didn't mean that Azame was excluded from his brother's birthday. A child's thirteenth birthday was a momentous occasion for their clan, and his absence would be most conspicuous. Which was why he was here, running through the forest searching for his brother's favorite hang out spot: the Nozama Lake.

'I should be getting closer...' Oro thought. 'Just need to find that Pecha tree.'

That was one of the reasons that his brother kept coming back here (most likely to sulk), as far as he knew. But that didn't matter to Oro. He just needs to find him.

Turning his head, a flash of sparkly blue caught his eye, followed by the refreshing scent of freshwater. He skidded to a halt. 'Aha!'

He took broad strides in that direction, taking satisfaction in the sudden rustling of grass. 'Little brat probably came here without Ma's permission again.'

There was no particular reason not to visit the lake, except that his Ma didn't like him disappearing for hours on end. Personally, he didn't care what his adopted brother did during his spare time, but it was kind of fun to boss him around.

Still... He guess it was alright to check up on him once in a while. It may be true that most had gotten used to him, but there were a few who had been against his inclusion, and they had voiced their displeasure whenever he had crossed their paths. So far, they hadn't done anything to him physically, but he figured it was only a matter of time.

He stepped around a tree, his eyes busy searching for the familiar mop of black hair. His singlet was practically soaked in his sweat, with the sun's rays beating down on his neck. His stomach was now growling ferociously, and his mind kept straying back to the promised ritual waiting for him.

In short, he wanted nothing more than to go home.

Soon, it was quite obvious that he was nowhere to be seen. Probably went to hide when he heard him approaching. "Hey, Azame!" he called out through cupped hands. "Come on, stop hiding already! Ma wants us back to help out!"

No response.

A soft growl of irritation escaped his lips. This wasn't the time to play hide-and-seek! He stalked forward, towards a suspicious-looking clump of bushes, and with one swing of his arm, the bush parted to reveal a scrawny boy with damp black hair, his hands clutching a-

The stench hit him there and then. His mind flew to the time when his group were playing in the forest, and they had stumbled across a rotting Pidgey corpse. The smell was horrendous, and the group had generally cried and wailed until someone came running to take it away. It had been five years, but the memory came back as strongly as the smell now.

He staggered back, his hand clasped over his gaping mouth. "What the hell, Azame?!" he screeched. "Where did you get that?!"

"I found him like this!" his adopted brother wailed, clutching the Deino corpse like a lifeline. "He was all covered in blood, a-and-!"

His mind stalled. Taking a closer look at it, he noticed that it was absolutely slathered in blood. It shouldn't be smelling like it was decomposing, so...

"A-and when I found him, I also found the others," Azame said lowly.

His mind had already came to the horrible conclusion, but the words came out before he could stop them. "What do you mean, 'others'?" he asked cautiously.

Azame pointed to the base of a tree, his gaze fixed on the ground. He crept towards the hole and peered into it.

His breakfast nearly came up.

Inside was a pile of corpses, all Deinos, which were in various stages of decomposition.

He couldn't take it anymore; rushing away, he threw up at a tree, reaching and gasping for breath. The next moment, he felt a small hand rub his back comfortingly. "You'll be okay," Azame whispered. "Everything will be over soon, okay?"

He shrugged off the hand. He didn't want him touching him like that. "Y-yeah," he gasped. "C-c'mon, we have to go back home. Before somebody sees us with...with that."

"What? But we can't leave him here!" he protested.

"We can, and we will!" he snarled, patience rapidly running low. He whirled around to stare him down. "I want to go home and clean up before the party, just put that back with the others!"

"No, I won't! And if you try to drag me back, I'll- I'll... I'll bring him back with us!" he said, glaring at him through the tears in his eyes.

Azame grimaced. His adopted brother may be tiny, but he could be extremely stubborn at times. At very inconvenient times, especially. He hadn't found a way around them yet, so he had no choice but to give in. "Fine, fine. Let's just make it quick!"

Thankfully, the brat seemed mollified by this. They searched for a burial spot, and settled for the base of a Pecha Tree (Azame insisted the poor Deino had to be at a good tree). He himself dug a decent-sized hole with his bare hands, and Azame carefully placed the body inside and covered it up with dirt. He could here sounds that sounded suspiciously like sniveling, and he huffed. 'They don't pay us enough to keep him,' he thought darkly.

"Come on, we have to go," he said aloud, standing and brushing his hand against his pants. Streaks of dirt stood out prominently against his white singlet and pants, despite his best attempts to clean up. "Aw man, Ma's gonna throw a fit..."

Turning around, he saw bloodshot eyes and tear tracks running down Azame's face. "Hey hey hey, no more crying. Or else Ma'll think that I beat you up or something..."

'Not that she'd mind,' he thought privately.

"O-okay," he hiccuped, messily wiping his face. "B-but what do you think happened to the poor D-Deino?"

He did his best to show as much indifference as possible. "Who knows? Maybe something tried to eat it, and if we don't get out of here quick, it'll come eat us up too!" He bared his teeth and faked a lunge at him. Azame squeaked in surprise, and he snorted. "Scaredy-Meowth."

Azame tried to hold his hand, but he jerked away in time. "Hey!" His hand hovered in the air for a moment, then fell to his side uselessly. "No time for that, let's go!"

Azame's hands were practically caked in dried blood and suspiciously lumpy bits, so he took him by the upper arm and started dragging him away.

Then came trouble.

Tremors ripped through the earth. His knees knocked against each other. Azame shrieked shrilly.

'Earthquake...!'

But he proved to be wrong a second later; the tremors receded. His relief was short-lived, however, when it was replaced with a strangely horrifying sound: snapping and growling. Too late he realized, and Azame's terrified yell finally got him to turn.

He nearly turned again to run.

A fully-grown Hydreigon stood before them, the two brainless heads roaring and snapping blindly. But it was the middle one, the one that was glaring at them both, that had his attention.

He had never seen something with so much...hatred in its eyes. Not even the opposing clans held that much malevolence for each other. This one had a look that wished the most painful death on them, but for whatever reason, he could not fathom.

"Big brother...?" he whimpered.

He cursed. The Deino that he had found must have been this Hydreigon's child. After all, not many Hydreigon's lived near their village. Looking at the beast's monstrous size, larger than any illustration he has ever seen, he could conclude rather easily that both of them couldn't hope to subdue it, nor outrun it. The blood on Azame's hands wouldn't help matters too.

As much as he detested his brother, he didn't want to see Azame torn apart. He had already seen enough of that in his old home. "Azame, get behind me!"

"Where are they?"

His eyes snapped to the beast, his frightened mind scrabbling to comprehend her words. Everything clicked together, and he frowned. "W-what do you mean? Who's 'they'?" He was amazed that his voice came out calmer than he was feeling.

"Where are they?!" the Hydreigon (A female, judging by her voice) roared in frustration. Azame wailed again. "Where are my CHILDREN?!"

"I'm scared!" he sobbed.

'How do you think I'm feeling?!' he wanted to scream at him; fear had his heart in its unforgiving grip, and uncontrollable tremors assaulted his clammy palms. His stomach was twisted into knots.

But he was the older one. He had to get his brother to safety.

"When I tell you to run, get out of here," he breathed to Azame. His eyes widened, but he quickly stood up straight again. "I know where your kids are," he said in a level voice.

Her eyes narrowed. "Where are they?!" she growled.

"I found them there," he said, pointing to where the corpses were.

He had half-expected her to call him a liar, to eat him up right there and then. But amazingly, miraculously, she rose into the air and shot off in the direction he had indicated.

They wasted precious seconds staring at the vacant space in amazement. He blinked, then realized their opportunity. "Azame, run!" He stared up at him uncertainly. "Run! RUN!"

He finally got the message. Azame shot off and bolted towards the village. He looked back to make sure that she wasn't going to give chase, then followed suit.

"Hurry! Hurry!" Azame panted.

He paid him no mind. His only goal was to reach the village, reach the adults, reach the safety. They'll help them, they'll know what to do, please please please let them reach-

"AAAAAHH!"

A dark blur shot out from the trees and collided with him. Legs pressed down on his body, hot breath blowing his hair like strong wind, they went tumbling a few feet before he became hopelessly trapped underneath the Hydreigon. His vision comprised only of scales, and little else registered in his head except for the words hissed into his ear.

"They're all dead."

He felt robbed of breath. 'This is stupid, we haven't even ran that far! Azame! Where's he?'

"I-I'm sorry! I don't know who killed them!" A horrible thought then struck him. "It wasn't us! I swear!"

"Liar!"

That was the last thing he heard before he felt razor sharp teeth sink into his arm. Pain shot through his flesh like hot knives. The scream that was glued to his throats ripped free, a deep, guttural sound echoing around the forest. His other hand feebly tried to bat away the head, but the other one grabbed it in its jaws. Agony sparked across his vision, and he struggled harder.

It was worse than anything he had ever experienced; the furious Hydreigon was pulling him closer and closer to his death, and nobody could help him-

Azame! His eyes flew open at the new sliver of hope. For one ridiculous moment, his mind was filled with the images of his brother heroically saving him from the beast, returning him safely to the village...

But of course, when he turned his head, Azame was nowhere to be found. His heart was filled with disappointment, anger, then hope. Hope that his brother was running back to the village to find help, that he was going to be okay...

Her teeth dug further into his flesh, and he found he couldn't feel his arms at all. They must have been bitten clean off, but then why can he still feel the horrible, burning pain...?

"THIS IS FOR MY CHILDREN, HUMAN!" she thundered, and her gaping maw lunged towards his forehead. Time seemed to slow down as he stared into the inky black void helplessly before him, paralyzed.

Somebody... Anybody... Help...

CRUNCH.

Pain seemed to explode in his head. His body froze, then fell limp like a rag doll. His eyes were frozen in terror and agony, his mouth open in a silent scream that would never come. The pain... No, it wasn't just pain... It was excruciating. It was agony. It was torture. The sounds of her teeth scraping against his skull bounced around hauntingly, and he could feel his hot blood run down his face and splatter against the grass in great quantities, the bright red prominent against the dull green. But it couldn't be possible that that much blood was pouring out of him... They seemed to be getting everywhere, staining his clothes and coating his hand...

He felt so cold...

Mum...

Azame...

Why...

With one final jerk, everything went black.

A/N: If you liked it, please leave a comment on how I can improve the story from here on out. In the meantime, I'll leave this out for you.

Chapter 1

In which two sisters are charged with chasing down an elusive kidnapper.


	2. Chapter 1: The New Task

"UWAAAAGH!"

In an apartment located in a government base, Midnight was thrashing around with reckless abandon, shrieking like a banshee and clawing at her forehead. "Stop, please! I didn't do it!"

"Uhwah...?!" Beside her, Melody jolted awake to see her sister flailing and yelling shrilly in her sleep. The mere sight was enough to erase any sleepiness left in her body, getting her to spring into action immediately. "Midnight, no!"

Kicking aside the blanket, Melody caught both wrists in her grip and pinned them down on either side, lest she started to draw blood from her head. Midnight was still writhing about in absolute agony and kicking wildly, but thankfully, her nightgown hindered her movements somewhat, although it still took all of her strength just to keep her from falling off the bed. "Midnight, wake up! It's just a bad dream!" she hollered panickedly. "Please!"

However, despite shouting at the top of her voice, Midnight showed no signs of waking up on her own accord, thrashing around like she was in her death throes. Her cries of "NO! STOP! IT HUUURTS!" stabbed at her heart achingly, and rivulets of tears ran down her paling face and soaked her pillow, her struggling becoming even more pronounced.

"Nobody's here! Nothing's hurting you, I promise! Just wake up, please!" Melody pleaded, close to tears herself. It was heart-wrenching to see her own sister in such pain, and that she was utterly helpless to do anything but pray that it would end soon. "Wake! Up!"

It felt like an eternity, with Melody panting and straining her muscles as her sister wailed, but Midnight eventually desisted and went slack in her grip. Her eyelids fluttered open, and haunted midnight blue eyes stared into anxious green ones.

"Ugh... Huh?" Melody felt her hand twitch, and she realized she was still pinning Midnight down. She hastily let go of her. "M-Melly...?"

"It's alright, sis. It was just a bad dream," she soothed while checking her over for injuries. Luckily, she hadn't managed to damage herself, only made her forehead really red and sore. "C'mon, I'll help you up." Carefully wrapping an arm around her waist, she helped Midnight into a sitting position and laid her against her own dry pillow. She fetched a handkerchief from the drawer and wiped off the mixture of sweat and tears on her face, mindful of the web of stitches that covered her scalp.

"A dream..." she muttered hoarsely, and her shoulders visibly trembled. "But... But it felt so _real_..."

Melody scowled lightly. _I don't like the sound of that. But I can't talk about it now, not when Midnight's like this._ "Hold on, I'll get you some water. Don't talk and just rest, alright? Doctor's orders," she said teasingly, tapping her on the nose. Midnight managed a wan smile, which looked more like a grimace to her, and nodded.

After making sure that Midnight was resting comfortably, Melody hopped off the bed and crossed into the kitchen, grabbing a clean glass and filling it with tap water. She walked back and passed it to Midnight, who took a small grateful sip. "Th-thanks," she croaked, a convulsion going through her body.

"No problem, Midnight." She rubbed her back comfortingly, trying not to mind the soaked nightgown. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Uhum... Yeah, I guess. It was just a stupid nightmare, Melly," she muttered wearily, although she could see that her skin was still pale and clammy.

Melody couldn't let her just downplay the severity of the situation, especially when she was reduced to such a weakened state. "Midnight, I-"

Suddenly, someone started pounding the front door, and Midnight jumped so badly that half the glass of water was spilled onto both of them. Melody yelped as Midnight let out a slew of curses, furiously trying to mop up the mess with the soggy handkerchief.

"Hey, Willows! You two alright in there?" a muffled voice hollered from the other side.

Midnight rolled her eyes, muttering, "I think I know who that is."

Melody had to stifle her laughter. "Oh come on, you know that you're happy to see him. And stop wiping the blanket, it's not doing any good," she added, plucking the handkerchief from her hands.

She glowered at her, though she noticed that it was half-hearted. "Am not. I'm just saying I know who that is," she countered, making to slide off the bed. "I'll go open the door."

"Wait-" Just as the word slipped from her lips, Midnight paled considerably and toppled over, and she would've hit the floor head-first had Melody not caught her in time.

"W-woah!" She shook her head, rubbing her temples. "Um... Sorry, just a little head rush..."

"Which is why you will be lying here-" Melody tucked her sister in bed and put the glass on the bedside table. "-while I go answer the door. Take it easy, alright?" This time, she put as much force in her voice as she could, narrowing her eyes for good measure.

Midnight rolled her eyes, not fooled in the slightest. "Yes ma'am," she said, giving her a mock salute.

Rolling her eyes as well, Melody exited their bedroom and entered the living room. It was quite messy from yesterday, when they had celebrated the success of their mission. A pizza box and several soda cans were left on the table, crumbs scattered all around it, and papers were strewn all over the floor, courtesy of Midnight. Carefully stepping over them and making a mental note to clean up the mess later, she walked over to the door and peered through the peephole. On the other side, she could see the tiny image of a sandy-haired man bouncing on the balls of his heels, a slender fist raised as though contemplating whether to start knocking again. _I knew it!_

Unlocking the door, she pulled it open and came face-to-face with Charles, a man in his early thirties and wearing a standard military uniform that covered his fair skin. His round, sky blue eyes twinkled with naive innocence, and his sand coloured hair was swept messily to one side, as if he had been flying.

"Hey, Charles! Is there anything you...need?" she asked the helicopter pilot, out of both politeness and curiosity. After all, even if they (AKA Midnight) were on better terms with him than the other soldiers, it was still unusual for him to come visit them on a whim like this.

"Yeah, I...I..." He spotted the state of their living room over her shoulder. "Um, you two really went all out yesterday, huh?" he chuckled good-naturedly, causing Melody to blush lightly.

"You can blame Midnight for the mess," she laughed. "But that's not why you came, right?"

"You're right about that..." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Everyone heard screaming from your apartment, so Sergeant G sent me to see what happened," he explained. "So... Was it her nightmares again?"

"Yes, unfortunately," Melody sighed. "And it's worse than before."

Charles frowned, which made him look like a sulking teenager, in her opinion. "Again? But isn't this the third one in a row? And what is it exactly about?"

"Most likely the same as the others," she spoke quietly, turning back to check for her sister. Luckily, there wasn't any sign of her attempting to eavesdrop. "Dreamt about being a little boy getting his frontal lobe bitten off, like her."

A mixture of disgust and sympathy appeared on his face. "Eurgh. How is she dreaming about that every single night?" His eyes then widened. "Is it... Is it because she's still traumatized about her accident ten years back?"

Melody thought about it for a moment, but then shook her head decisively. "No, I don't think so. If that was really the case, she would be dreaming about her time in captivity, not about some random kid." She let out a weary sigh. "I don't know what's going on, but I hope that we can get to the root of the problem before it gets too bad."

"You know, I wish that you guys would stop talking behind my back all the time. I'm perfectly capable of handling anything involving me," a disgruntled voice said behind her.

She could've sworn that she had jumped a foot into the air when she whirled around to see her sister behind her, a hand braced against a cabinet. She was inwardly glad that her face had regained some colour, but annoyance overwhelmed her. "Midnight, what are you doing out of bed? I told you to take it easy! And how did you sneak up on me so quickly?"

"We wouldn't be stuck with these 'espionage agent' jobs if we can't sneak around," Midnight said. "Anyway, what's going on?"

After she gave her a look that clearly stated "We're not done", she said, "Well, Charles said that Sergeant Grigory sent him to see what was going on."

"Oh, is that all?" she laughed lightly, but it came out slightly wheezy instead. "Well, just tell him that everything is fine, _I'm_ fine, and that we have everything under control."

"Yeah, and..." Charles averted his gaze at this point, scratching the back of his head. "Well... Hooboy, how do I say this..."

"Uh..." Melody shared a puzzled look with her sister. "Charles? Is there something else that you need to tell us?" A rather worrying thought then occurred to her. "He's...not _angry_ at her, is he?"

"Oh! Oh, no, he isn't!" Charles hurriedly assured. "No, he couldn't be mad at her for having a nightmare! No, the problem is...he's mad that she's not _doing_ anything about it."

"Doing about... What does he expect me to do?!" Midnight snapped, and Charles flinched. "Get a Drowzee to eat my dreams?"

"I don't think that the Drowzee would appreciate that notion," he chuckled, though a single glare was enough to make him stop. "A-anyway, he- Well, no offense, _we_ noticed that you've recently been losing focus during missions. I mean, look at yourself now! You're a mess!"

"Gee, thanks," she deadpanned. "Was that supposed to be the 'no offense' part?"

In spite of the situation, he managed to crack another smile. "I'm sorry, but it's true. Anyway, Sergeant G's being talking about getting you to see a psychic. You know, to see if they can stop the nightmares from the inside."

It took a few seconds for Melody to register his words, and when she did, she resisted the urge to jump for joy. _Of course! How could I have not thought about that before?_ It seemed so obvious now. Heartened by this idea, she turned to share her excitement with her sister, but then paused.

Midnight didn't smile. On the contrary, she wore a disbelieving look, her jaw dropped. "I-I... What? A _psychic_?" she said weakly. "Seriously? _Please_ tell me you're joking."

"I, um... No?" Suddenly, Melody realized what she was talking about, and her own mouth dropped in horror. Charles glanced at Melody uncertainly, somehow missing the "Shut up!" look she was now trying to convey. "I mean, there's no other way we can stop the nightmares."

Midnight's face was now slowly reddening, spluttering out incomplete, indignant sentences. Charles started inching backwards discreetly, looking more alarmed by the second."Um, Midnight? Are you-?"

"No! No, I am not alright!" she snarled, and she even took a step towards Charles. Her face lost what little colour it had then, and she would've toppled over had Melody not caught her in time. It didn't stop her rant, however. "If you think that I'm going to just- just let a _complete_ stranger just waltz into my head, then you've got another thing coming!"

Melody chewed her bottom lip nervously, while Charles stared at her mutely. On one hand, she understood her sister's feelings completely, given the bad experiences she had with anyone psychic. But on the other, there wasn't any other options that they had, and this one sounded the most sensible. _I... I have to convince her somehow. I don't want to go through that again._

She grasped her shoulder gently, effectively giving her assurance and getting her attention. "Middy, I know that you're scared, but this is the only way we can stop the nightmares. You know that, right?"

"Scared?! I am not _scared_ ," she defended, a faint tremble momentarily going through her hands. "I just don't want the same thing that happened at Team Rocket happen again!"

"And it _won't_ ," Melody said firmly, taking her bony hands in her own. Midnight started, and she tried to pull away, but she held on, determined not to let her slip away. "I promise you, whoever they get to help you, they will _not_ do anything to harm you. And if they do," She tightened her grip, "I'll make them regret that they ever decided to mess with _my_ sister. I _promise_. You trust me, don't you?"

Midnight's eyes were now downcast, silent staring downwards.

"So just...consider it? Please?"

Her sister remained silent for an intangible length of time, staring down at their intertwined fingers and picking at her minty nail polish (Melody had to swallow down the urge to smack her hands). When she spoke, it was in a low, halting voice, like she had to physically force herself to speak. "... Alright, I'll think about it."

Melody blinked, then beamed brightly at her. "Really? You'll actually consider it?" she whispered, not believing her ears.

One peek at Melody's grinning face was enough to get her to backpedal hastily. "Hey, hey, hey. I'm only doing it because you'll keep hounding me until I say yes anyway," she said, looking away with a faint blush spreading across her face.

Melody laughed lightly, planting a soft kiss on her cheek. "I know, I know," she said, suppressing her giggles when she saw her sister's stunned expression. "I'm just happy that you're listening to me for once." _Calmly, I might add. "_ Come on, go get yourself cleaned up while I make breakfast." She glanced at the general direction of their bed, remembering the prominent dark patches on it. "Actually, I think I'll change the sheets first."

"Then I can help you get some fresh ones," Charles offered as Midnight trudged off into their bedroom in search of clean clothes.

"That'd be great!" Finally, something goes her way today, and it was barely nine in the morning. "And can you help me get a copy of today's newspapers while you're at it?"

"Will do!"

At that moment, the bathroom door clicked shut, and an odd look crossed Charles' face. He bent forward and began speaking rapidly in a nervous whisper.

"Actually, there's something else Sergeant G wants me to tell you," he said. "He wants you two down at the meeting room in about an hour, said something about an assignment."

"I- Um, excuse me?" Melody sincerely hoped that she had misheard him. After all, they had just came back from one arduous mission, surely they wouldn't give them another?

"See? This is why I didn't want to say anything in front of your sister. I don't want her blowing up on me," he muttered, twiddling his fingers and avoiding her gaze.

A suspicion sneaked on her upon seeing his nervous attitude. "So you're going to throw me under the bus instead of manning up and telling her yourself?" Melody asked. The helicopter pilot shrank back, confirming her guess. "What the- You _jerk_!"

"I'm really, really sorry!" he squeaked. "But, well, you're the only one she really listens to."

Melody sighed. "Well...that's true, I suppose. But don't think you're getting off so lightly," she warned, shaking a finger in his face.

"Consider me warned," he said with evident relief. "I'll just...ah...go get the sheets while you explain it to her."

"Fine," Melody huffed. "But you owe me, got it?"

"Of course! Thanks, Mells!" he said gratefully, strolled off towards the elevator at the end of the corridor, whistling a chirpy tune. Sighing, she closed the door and returned to their bedroom. She collected the blanket and pillows and dumped them aside, grabbing the bed sheet and stripping it off.

 _I wish that they would just tell us both at the same time instead of leaving me to tell her myself,_ she thought with mild annoyance. _I'm always taking the brunt of her anger. But on the other hand, if Charles had told us earlier, she'd probably just blow up regardless..._

She couldn't blame Midnight entirely for her anger issues, though. Due to their... _condition_ , they were hardly allowed outside to do anything recreational, unless they were under heavy supervision, and most of the time they ventured outside was because they were on a mission of some sort. While Melody didn't really think highly of how they always kept them hidden away with limited contact with anyone outside, she was also slightly appeased by the fact that they provided them their very own apartment and generally left them alone. After all, they had taken the effort to make their new home as comfortable as possible after pulling them from their old one abruptly, and so far, they had not attempted to experiment on them, unlike a certain organization she could name...

However, when she tried to share her point of view with her sister, she had been...less than supportive, to say the least. "They're only doing this to keep us here, somewhere where they can monitor us until they want to use us to clean up their messes. You can't trust them. They're just a nicer Team Rocket," she had said, her face carrying a look of jaded determination.

At that time, Melody had managed to assure her that if the government really wanted to harm them in any way, they had many weapons at their disposal that were more than capable of taking them down (she looked rather disturbed at that point). But while Midnight had grudgingly accepted her logic, Melody still worried. She had no way of knowing what went through her head, and Midnight unfortunately had a hair-trigger temper that others tend to accidentally set off. If she perceived someone's action as an attempt to attack them...

Melody shook her head. _No, focus on the positive. At least she's listening to your advice this time._

"Melly?"

Melody flinched at the close proximity of her voice, and she turned to glare at her smirking sister. "Middy, I told you not to do that! I swear, you're going to give me a heart attack." As she said that, she surveyed Midnight from head to toe. "... Anyway, do you feel any better?"

Midnight grinned wolfishly in response, which made Melody both relieved and a tiny bit worried. "Never better! I feel like I just ate one of your Pecha pies," she said jauntily, bumping her hip with her playfully.

Melody had to admit that she _was_ looking much better now. The bags under her eyes were less pronounced, and she was holding herself much higher than before, when she was nothing but a shivering wreck. She was wearing a fresh set of clothes: a simple maroon T-shirt that hung from her thin frame, covering up her Mew tattoo, and baggy, beige cargo pants with her hands casually tucked into the pockets. A black cap with the letter "M" sewn on it rested on her stitched-up scalp.

"I can see that," Melody said evenly. "I already asked Charles to help us grab new sheets, so -"

Midnight suddenly plucked the sheets from her hands. "I'll do it. You go ahead and wash up."

Melody hesitated. While she was glad that her sister was feeling rejuvenated, she wasn't sure about letting her do anything too strenuous so soon after her "episode". "I-it's alright, I'll do it myself," she said, trying to take the sheets back. Midnight held strong, however.

"No, you've done enough for me," she said with a note of finality. "Anyway, it's just some sheets, I'm not made of glass."

"I-" Melody took one look at her face, which was enough to convince her. "... Alright. Just don't do anything stupid while I'm in the showers, alright?"

Midnight rolled her eyes. "What the hell do you think I'm going to do? Of course I won't," she grumbled.

She chuckled. _Midnight, you never change, do you?_ She started rummaging through the wardrobe for her clothes. _Hmm, which one should I wear...?_ She brought out a cream yellow polo shirt. She wrinkled her nose, and it went back into the wardrobe. _Ew, no._

"Melly, would you just take your clothes and go? It doesn't matter what you wear," Midnight said impatiently.

"Of course it does," she said in exasperation. "I'm not comfortable wearing any combination of clothes like you, you know." She held up a sky blue turtleneck shirt, and she nodded to herself in approval. "This will do."

"Say, Melly," she started casually.

"Yes?" she said warily. Good things never happened when her sister took on that tone.

"Did Charles tell you...anything, when I was in the shower?"

Melody paused. _Should I tell her now...?_ After weighing heroptions, she shook her head. _No, I might take a while explaining things to her. I'll tell her later, after I'm done washing up._

"I'll tell you later, okay?" she said gently.

Midnight's face briefly darkened, but it didn't last long when she was pulled into a one-armed hug. "... Alright," she said reluctantly.

"Thanks for being so understanding," she said, and before Midnight could protest, she picked up a pair of jeans and entered the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

Midnight glared at the wall opposite her. "I'm not being understanding," she muttered rebelliously. She turned to their bed. "I'm just being a sister."

 _I better get started,_ Midnight thought after she heard the door click shut. Grabbing the cover her sister had left, yanking everything off in one motion and tossed it aside, leaving the bed bare. She looked around for fresh sheets, but there were none present in the room. "Huh? Where-"

Someone suddenly started pounding on the door, making her heart skip a Beattie the second time this morning. "Oh, for goodness sake..."

Stomping towards the door, she threw it open to see Charles giving her a shit-eating grin, though it faded slightly when he saw her. "Charles, would you stop trying to break down our door?" she said peevishly.

"Ahaha, sorry about that..." he said sheepishly. "I, uh, got your sheets and newspaper." He thrust a plastic bag towards her.

"Thanks," she muttered, accepting the bag and setting it aside.

"No problem!" he said warmly, rubbing the top of her head affectionately. She winced slightly. "See you later, then?"

"Yeah, sure. Just don't do that," Midnight grumbled, shoving his hand away. "It still hurts, you know."

"Ah, sorry about that. I keep forgetting about that," he said apologetically. "Anyway, I have to go now. Tell Melody I said hi!"

Charles waved goodbye to her as he skipped off towards the elevator. Shaking her head in exasperation, Midnight bolted the door and went back to their bedroom, bringing the fresh sheets with her. "How the hell can he forget? I don't have any hair!"

Pulling the bedsheets free, Midnight threw it over the bed and hastily tucked the edges under the mattress, struggling to hold the mattress up and pull down the covers at the same time. Unfortunately, they stubbornly refused to comply with her demands. "Come _on_..."

She heard a faint scuff behind her before she saw her. "Midnight!" Melody admonished, her dainty hands suddenly reaching over to take the sheets from her. "That's how you do it! Jeez, how can I trust you with chores if you won't do them properly?"

"I _am_ doing them properly," Midnight protested, handing over the sheets reluctantly.

"No, you're not. Look, you can see how the sheets are wrinkled at... Well, at everywhere." Midnight held the mattress up as Melody smoothed the bedsheets over. Once she was done, she let it go with a muffled "whump". "There, this is how you should do it, alright?"

"Alright, alright." Midnight followed her sister into the kitchen with a disgruntled expression, carrying the dirty sheets and newspaper with her. "So what's for breakfast?" As she said that, she tossed the sheets beside the washing machine.

"Just some toast and orange juice. I don't want to upset your stomach after your episode," Melody said over her shoulder, bringing out a loaf of bread and butter.

"Fine... But _I_ want to make the toast this time."

Melody looked over her shoulder at her sister. "What? Why?" During all the time she spent with her, Midnight had rarely shown any interest in making food, mostly because she kept making some kitchen appliance explode.

"Because you put too little butter on the toast," she complained.

Melody had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. "Figures," she said. "Every time I let you cook, the food always tastes like you fished it out from the ocean."

"No, it doesn't!" Melody raised an eyebrow. "Fine, I promise I won't butter it too much."

"Well..." Melody really didn't want to let her sister do anything too exhausting, or let her near the food, but... who knows? Maybe she'll keep to her promise. "Alright then. Just don't go crazy over the butter."

" _Okay_. Jeez, your smothering's starting to suffocate me," she grumbled, taking Melody's place at the counter.

Melody gave her an affectionate cuff on the head as she returned to the tiny, wooden kitchen table. _Sometimes she can be so annoying, but she's still my sister,_ she thought, opening up her newspaper. _I wouldn't trade her for anything in the... Huh?_

Her eyes were immediately caught by the paper's glaring headlines, which were screaming " **Performers Murdered At Circus World! Murderer Apprehended At The Scene Of Crime!** "

"What?" she murmured out loud. "Murder?" _Oh no, please don't tell me..._

Fearing the worst, she continued reading the article below, the Vivillons in her stomach growing in number with each passing word.

 **"The bodies of the Circus World performers were discovered in an underground facility located under the building, after having been missing for approximately a week.**

 **Ex-performer, Benjamin Bancroft, age 34, was first filed missing by his coworker, Rebecca Green, age 13. The police had launched an investigation to find the whereabouts of Benjamin, but to no avail. The rest of the performers soon followed, leaving no trails for the baffled investigators to follow. The police had suspected one of the workers was responsible, as there were no signs of forced removal from their duties. The staff were put under investigation, with no results to show for it.**

 **The Circus Gang remained missing until the early morning of 19 July, when the technician discovered the dismembered body parts of the victims down together to create a new body in the repair and maintenance room and promptly contacted the police. There were shock collars around their necks, which the police deducted were to shock them into silence and compliance before their deaths.**

 **After further investigation, Shawn Lee, the technician who discovered the corpses, was discovered on the camera feeds disposing some of the victims' corpses. After he was taken away for further questioning, he confessed to tampering with the security cameras to hide the fact that it was Benjamin Bancroft who had kidnapped the performers, and he had been assisting him before finally killing him himself. He was arrested on the spot and will be given a trial on 25 July.**

 **"The incident has been regrettable for everyone involved, and the stars of Circus World will certainly be missed," the owner of Circus World said, a sentiment shared by both parents and children. "I will, of course, make sure that they will get the recognition they deserve after years of service and entertainment."**

Melody put the newspaper down, feeling sick to the stomach. _I can't... Why did this happen?_ She could remember every minute detail of the pizzeria very vividly, like they were burned into her memory. When she turned ten, Charles would bring her to Circus World as a birthday treat, and it was no exaggeration to say that it was the best place she had ever been to.

Of course she would've thought that, since the place was tailored specifically to attract children in droves. Every single day, every available time slot would be filled up with birthday parties for a disparity of children. The booked room would be decked out in decorations that matched the theme of the birthday kid's choice, adding to the already vibrant balloons that were tied to the table legs. The food that was served during the party melted in her mouth, especially the pizza that seemed to just ooze with cheese.

 _What did I pick that time... Oh yeah, it was a Celebi theme, wasn't it?_ she mused. It was an obvious choice at that time, given her heritage.

It wasn't all parties and pizzas, though. There was also the "Starcade", an arcade room mainly for the older patrons that were dragged along, and a ball pool to occupy the little ones with plastic spheres of every colour. Both attractions garnered a fair amount of attention, but neither could hope to compete with the main attraction: the group of performers called the Circus Gang.

Melody had no idea what they had that drew kids, including her and Midnight, to them like Combees to honey. It was like they had an affinity with them. Their actual names weren't common knowledge amongst the diners, as they were recognized more by their stage names: Baby the "Singer", Penny the "Playmate", Freddy and Bonnie as "The Wacky Duo", and Ballora the "Ballerina" and her children, the "Minireenas". Benjamin, better known as Uncle Benny to the kids, used to be the singer, but Baby had taken his place recently. These four were allocated in different rooms, but they would sometimes pair up to perform. Regardless, the children loved them.

 _Who on earth would kill them?_ Melody thought dolefully, recalling the joyful grins their performances brought to the young children. She never usually played favorites, but she had always adored Ballora; the way she gracefully danced her way across the gallery as she guided a small train of children behind her, her own kids helping those who were having trouble keeping up. Her soft, melodious voice would hum along to the tune of her twinkling music box. _This is terrible..._

"Hey." Melody glanced up to see Midnight balancing a plateful of toast on one hand and two glasses of orange juice on the other. "Whatcha reading?"

Melody pursed her lips, taking the plate from her sister and putting them on the table. "It's, uh... Well, see for yourself." She doubt she could recount the gory incident out loud without making herself sick.

Midnight took the papers from her and started perusing it as Melody picked up a piece of toast. She took a bite out of it, savoring the effort that her sister had put into it (no matter how little). _Mm, it's really crunchy, the way I like it... But why is it so oily and cold inside... Wait a minute._

Melody snatched up a piece of tissue and spat it out just as Midnight threw the papers down in disgust. "What the hell!" she spat.

"Yes, what the hell! You put too much butter into the toasts again!" Melody said furiously, gulping down orange juice to wash away the taste. "I _told_ you not to!"

"I did not," she snorted. "And I'm not talking about that. It's just... I can't believe this."

Melody sighed. "I know..."

Midnight snatched up a toast and boy angrily into it as she herself took a more reasonable sip of orange juice, observing her over the rim of the glass. She could see conflict in her eyes: part of her was feeling something (misery?), while the other part was trying to quash that feeling. It was understandable, as Circus World was one of the few places they had visited during their childhood, so it held a special place in the sisters' hearts, despite what Midnight might say. But she knew her sister well, there was no way she would just freely express her feelings without a sort of abrasive comment accompanying them. It sometimes became a problem when it came to talking to any of their superiors, though.

At that moment, Midnight's eyes flicked up to meet her own, and she raised a questioning eyebrow. "What? What did I do?" she squawked uncomfortably.

"Calm down, you didn't do anything," she reassured, patting her arm. "I was just wondering... Um, what did you think about the article?"

Midnight dropped her defensive stance, shrugging off-handedly as she munched on a toast. "Well, I mean, it's terrible and all, what he did to them... It's, well..." She was wearing a deeply uncomfortable expression at this point. "I-I don't know how to say." As though sickened by the thought, she set down her half-eaten toast.

Melody let out a long, heavy sigh. "I know. Even though we've not been there in a long time, it still hurts to think that they're just...gone. Just like that." Her mouth stretched into a small, nostalgic smile. "Do you remember that time we had your seventh birthday? Baby was singing for you, and Penny was passing you your birthday presents... I had never seen you so excited! I could barely keep you in your seat."

Midnight's mouth twitched. "Yeah, and Freddy was telling a bad pun, and Bon-Bon..." Her voice trailed off, and she shook her head. "Anyway, what _I'd_ like to know is how the police managed to catch the murderer so quickly. They're normally useless."

"Midnight, they're not _useless_. They've done a lot of good for society," she admonished, reluctantly accepting another toast that Midnight had passed her.

"They've done a lot of good catching _petty thieves_ ," Midnight pointed out. "But the major organizations? Zilch. _We_ have to do it ourselves." She wolfed down the rest of the toast and dumped the empty plate into the sink. "I'm just surprised that they managed to catch him so quickly, if he managed to hide the Circus Gang for so long."

"Who knows? Maybe he'd just slipped up..." Melody glanced up at the wall clock, and her mouth dropped open. "Oh no! Midnight, we have to go now, we're going to be late!" Gulping down the rest of her orange juice, she grabbed hers and Midnight's, who had just been draining the rest of her juice, glass and threw them into the sink with the plate. She grabbed Midnight by the collar and yanked her out of her seat, pulling her towards the door. "Come on!"

"Melly, wait!" she yelped, but they were both out and walking down the hallway before Midnight could pull herself free from her grip. "Slow down, you haven't even told me where we're going! And wear your shoes!"

"Sergeant Grigory wants us to meet him at the meeting room today in an hour, and we'll wear them in the elevator," Melody said without breaking stride, holding up their sneakers for her to see. "Come on, hurry up!" she growled, jabbing the button furiously.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Midnight grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from the button before she broke it, her eyes wide with alarm. "Hey, Grigory won't care if we're a little late. Plus, it's Sergeant G we're talking about, not some uptight superior we're meeting."

"That doesn't mean we can afford to be late, Midnight!" Melody said firmly, and she was slightly frightened by the crazed anxiety raging in her eyes.

Midnight raised her hands placatingly. "Okay, okay, look." Midnight gently freed her black shoes from her sister's death grip and pulled them on. "I know you have that Celebi heritage thing going on, but you don't have to go too nuts about being punctual. L-look, Grigory will probably care more about your appearance than your punctuality, so put your shoes on, will you? And I thought _I_ was the crazy one in this relationship," she added in an undertone.

"I heard that," she said in a hurt voice, but she still wore her shoes, a solid cyan blue with green swirls. "And all I'm saying is that we should be on time at all times." Melody chuckled while Midnight visibly cringed. "It makes us look responsible."

She rolled her eyes to the heavens. "Fine, whatever makes you happy," she said in exasperation, throwing her hands up in surrender. Right at that moment, the elevator door opened. "Let's go."

The sisters entered the elevator and the doors closed behind them, a gentle whirring noise filling the air as they descended. A faint musky scent hung around them, and Mindight wrinkled her nose. _Ugh, I better say something._

Glancing at Melody, she noticed she would glance at her wrist instinctively, then doing a small double-take when she realized that she wasn't wearing a watch. _Oh, for fuck's sake..._

"Hey, Melly." She slipped her hand into hers and gave a comforting squeeze. "Stop freaking out, we're going to be there on time."

She could feel Melody tighten her fingers around her. "O-oh, I... Yeah, I guess so." Her mouth quirked up into an embarrassed sort of smile. "Heh heh, sorry... I just get really nervous when it comes to-"

"'When it comes to time'. Yeah, yeah, I know. God, calm down, you look as bad as I felt when I woke up," Midnight sniggered.

Surprisingly, Melody didn't shoot back a response like she had expected her to. Instead, she was giving her a weird look that Midnight couldn't describe. "Right..." she said slowly, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Speaking of which, I want to ask you about something, and I want you to answer me honestly. Do you promise me?"

"I, uh... Yes?"

"Good." The elevator doors opened, and they walked past a couple of soldiers entering. Melody gave them a friendly gaze, which they responded to with nervous glances and a hastened exit. The closest they got to a greeting was a hard-to-see nod before they rushed into the elevator. Both of them watched the door slam shut.

"Uh..." Melody turned to see a hardened look in her sister's eyes, her hands curled into bony fists.

"Let's just go," Midnight snapped, whirling around and striding down the hallway, leaving Melody to try to catch up to her.

One good thing that came out of this was that Melody forgot about the time completely. "A-anyway, I just wanted to ask you about your nightmare," she said hurriedly. "Was it...you know, about him?"

The question hadn't completely defused her temper, but it at least released some of the tension. "Y-yes, it was. But, it was also different in a way, I suppose."

"Oh, that's... Wait, different?" She blinked in astonishment, not having expected her to say anything more that a statement. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's..." Midkight looked around herself, as if searching for the right words. "It feels more _real_ , like I'm actually in his shoes instead of watching it from his point of view. Or... I don't know, whatever it was, it certainly hurt like hell."

Melody mulled over her words for a while. Midnight _was_ screaming like she was dying, and she had been clutching at her forehead, as if something was biting down on it... "I guess it makes sense, since you _did_ experience it before." She took a quick peek at her face for a reaction, but there was none whatsoever. One of the disadvantages of having a shapeshifter for a sister; when she chose to, she could hide her emotions easily. "Maybe it's catching up to you after all this time."

"But why now, of all times?" Midnight wondered out loud.

"Wouldn't you say the same thing if it happened five years ago or two years from now, though? It can happen any time,Midnight," she said. "So we'll hire someone to make it stop, before they get out of control and something happens to you."

Midnight shrugged listlessly, staring determinedly at anything other than her sister. "Yeah. Sure."

The sisters continued on in stifling silence, Melody tugging awkwardly at her sleeves and Midnight fixating her gaze on the waxed floor. Even if she could think of a new topic to distract her, there seemed to be an invisible force holding her mouth shut, unwilling to let her reassure her own sister. _Middy... Why can't you trust them? Don't you trust_ me _?_ She wished she could say she knew.

A few more agonizing minutes later, they found themselves in front of a plain, steel door. Above it were the words "Meeting Room".

"So... We're here," Melody started. Midnight simply nodded.

"Yeah. Why do we have to meet him, anyway?"

Melody shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. All Charles told me was that it was urgent." At that instant, her face went pale as Midnight whirled around.

"So Charles _did_ tell you something!" she said accusedly. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?!"

"I forgot," she answered honestly. It was true too; the article had drove any intentions of informing Midnight of the meeting out of her mind at that time. "Sorry, I really did want to tell you."

Midnight grunted. "Whatever, lets just get this over with." Without waiting for a response, she pushed open the door and barged into the room without any regard. Melody followed, resigned.

Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any meeting going on. Sergeant Grigory was sitting at the far end of the table, staring expectantly at them. On either side of him was Charles, who waved cheerfully, and a woman in a police attire, with an inch-thick folder with her.

"Good morning, Sergeant Grigory," Melody greeted, and Midnight followed suit after a quick jab in the ribs. "We're not late, are we?"

"No, you're not. Please take a seat, Officer Amber needs to talk to you," he said, gesturing towards the empty chairs. They did so, Minugjt opting to sit next to Charles. Once they were settled down, Grigory started speaking again.

"Now, I'm sure you're wondering why we called you down. It is, in fact, about Team Flare."

Melody frowned at that, while Midnight raised an eyebrow. "Team Flare? D'you mean those losers going around stealing stuff?" she snorted.

"Don't take them so lightly, Willows," the police officer warned, her gravelly voice indicating her age. Her hair, which was charcoal black with a few streaks of grey, was in a tight bun with a few worry lines on her forehead and around her mouth. "They may not seem threatening now, but Team Galactic didn't seem so either, and look what had happened. We can't let our guards down around them."

Sergeant Grigory cleared his throat. "Ah yes, I forgot to introduce myself." She gave them a friendly smile. "My name is Melissa Amber, and I'm the police chief of the Kalos Police Force. I came here after I had a superior recommend your skills to me. Now, please take a look at these reports of their more recent activities."

She slid the thick folder across the table towards them. Melody caught it and opened it up to see various reports detailing each and every incident that took place over the last month or so. Picking out a report at random, she began to skim through it quickly.

 **"Members of Team Flare were found at Laverre City raiding the Pokéball Factory and terrorizing the workers, with the alleged intention of taking over the entire operation in order to supply their own organisation. Most of the suspects have been detained after a brief scuffle, but were bailed out of jail by their associates."**

Melody frowned to herself. She recalled reading about this incident in the newspaper too, but she never gave them much thought, due to their sheer incompetence at committing was like Midnight called them: a bunch of morons in tacky suits.

"This... This is just about them looting Pokémarts," Midnight said, bemused. "What are you trying to show us?"

"All of these," Melissa gestured at the folder, "are all of their activities - or at least the ones that we noticed. They may seem harmless at first glance, but we suspect that there is more to it than petty thievery, like the other major organizations from other regions. So far, we haven't been able to uncover anything more...sinister."

"That is where you two come in," Sergeant Grigory cut in.

Melody could see her sister sit up straighter, her eyes visibly perked up. "You mean you're going to get us to go undercover and infiltrate their base in order to find out what they're doing?" she asked, her voice very clearly indicating that she could barely rein in her excitement.

Melody rolled her eyes while Charles let out a weird cough. "Midnight, please don't sound so excited about this."

She opened her mouth to respond, but Grigory cut her off. "No. Only _one_ of you will be going undercover as a Flare member," he corrected, pointing at Melody.

...

... Wait, what?

"Um... I don't mean any disrespect, but why me? Why not her?" Melody asked tentatively, gesturing at a silently gaping Midnight who had an extremely offended look on her face.

"Yeah, why not me?!" she asked. "I'm the shapeshifter here!"

"Because she, unlike _you_ , is capable of listening to her superiors without question. We certainly can't have you blowing your own cover."

As much as she didn't want to admit it in front of her sister, Melody could see his point, and she knew that Midnight was aware of this too. "Yeah, well, I..."

"Wait." Midnight grabbed her wrist, glowering at the collective group of people. "Do you really think that I'm going to let you throw my sister into enemy territory?"

Office Amber's eyebrows furrowed. "Midnight, calm down!" Melody hissed, but Midnight was already on a roll.

"No, I will not _calm down_! What if you get hurt, or even worse, killed?! And I won't be there to help you! If they think they can stop me, then they've got another thing coming!"

Midnight paused to catch her breath, and Officer Amber took this to reply sardonically, "And this is why we're sending your sister instead."

Melody could hear a low, guttural growl from deep within her throat, and she decided that it was a good time to intervene before things detoriated. "Sergeant Grigory, if you're sending me only, then why did you call both of us down here?"

A pause, then he gave them one of his rare smiles. "Did I say that I was only sending your sister?"

"Uh..." They shared a bewildered look, which only seemed to amuse their superior further. "But you just said that only one of us will be going."

"As a Flare member," he agreed.

"... So what about the hell am _I_ supposed to be? The janitor?" Midnight snarked.

"No," he answered evenly. "You're going to be posing as your sister's Pokémon."

Dead silence.

Melody could hear her sister spluttering in shock, and she herself was similarly stunned. "W-wait, you want her to be _my_ Pokémon? As in, I'm the Trainer and she's my Pokémon?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes," he answered, nonplussed. "Why are you acting so surprised?"

"It's... Um, wouldn't it be better if the _both_ of us went? I'd like to have someone I trust by my side." She slipped her hand into Midnight's, and Midnight squeezed back, as though afraid that she would suddenly evaporate.

Officer Amber shook her head. "I'm afraid not. The leaders of Team Flare might have heard of your sister, after her brief...episode with Team Rocket."

Midnight's fingers, which had previously wrapped around Melody's hand for support, were now crushing her in her death grip.

"Besides that, we feel that it is better that they remain unaware of your sister's existence so as to keep her as a backup plan, so to speak. If you ever need to be quickly removed from a dangerous situation, you can count on her," she continued, either not noticing or not caring that Midnight was struggling not to hyperventilate.

Melody could see the logic behind it, and it took care of two concerns she had: keeping Midnight out of the line of fire and having her by her side at the same time. The only thing she was worried about now was how badly Midnight would take the news.

"... So I'll be with M-Melly during the mission? Just as a Pokémon?" she asked, eyeing both of them warily.

"Yes," Grigory said. "I understand that you're worried about your sistwr( but I am sure that you are fully aware that both of you are more than capable of defending yourselves." And unless Melody was mistaken, she could see him shooting a warning glance at Midnight.

"... Alright," she yielded, and Melody breathed an internal sigh of relief. "So, uh... Is there anything else we need to know about this mission?"

Officer Amber's lips stretched into a thin smile. "I see we're finally moving on to the important matters. Now..."

After going through the finer points of the plan, Officer Amber left with the promise of meeting up with them again the next day. Melody and Charles left the meeting room, but Sergeant Grigory requested for Midnight to stay back to "discuss a private matter". Now they were lingering outside the door, Charles whistling quietly while Melody paced up and down in a nervous fit.

Time ticked by agonizingly slow. She should know, since...well. She couldn't hear anything through the thick steel doors, and a small part of her mind wonders if Midnight was being lectured by him for her outburst. Melody knew that Midnight shouldn't be mouthing off at her superiors, but at the same time, there was a warm, fuzzy glow in her chest at the thought of Midnight proclaiming that she wouldn't let her walk into enemy headquarters alone. There was nothing she would rather have than her sister's loyalty.

"Hey, Will- Um, I mean, Melody?" Charles called.

"Yes, Charles?" Melody said wearily.

"Does it really work?"

She glanced one at the pilot, who was looking back with abundant curiosity. "Does what really work?"

"The Pokéball." She stared blankly at him, which prompted him to elaborate further. "Can it really capture Midnight if she's a Pokémon?"

"Um... Well, honestly, we've never really _tried_ it before," Melody said, rubbing the back of her head. "I mean, it's not like we just decided to stick her into a Pokéball to see what would happen."

He chuckled. "No, I guess not. But I bet she wouldn't like that idea very much, though," he said with a blend of sympathy and mirth.

"You're right about that," she muttered, her hand rubbing the spot where Midnight had gripped her. "In fact, you might even be toning it down a little..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Thankfully, she was saved from any more awkward questions when the door swung open to let Sergeant Grigory and Midnight out. She didn't look as agitated as Melody thought she would after a one-on-one talk with just about anyone. A little sour-looking, but not so that it worried her.

"So what did you two talk about?" Melody muttered, but Midnight just shook her head, as if saying, "I'll tell you later."

"You're free to go, Willows." He nodded at the sister and Charles. "I apologise for springing this on you two so soon after your previous mission, but we're currently short on soilders, and you're much more suited for this kind of assignment."

"It's alright, Sergeant Grigory," Melody assured.

"I'm glad you understand," he said. "But that's another matter for tomorrow. For now, you are free to enjoy your day off outside to the fullest."

It took a while for his words to register, and a wide grin broke across her face. "We're... You're actually letting us go outside?"

"Well, it won't be much of a day off if I keep you two cooped up in here," he said dryly. "As long as you let Charles accompany you and you come back by ten, then yes, you're allowed to. Charles, keep a close eye on Midnight, would you?" Ignoring the screech of indignation from her, he strode off toward the elevator.

"So, uh, where do you guys want to go?" Charles asked, looking from a fuming Midnight to an estactic Melody nervously.

The sisters shared a glance, and they both somehow knew what the other was thinking. "...How about Lumiose City?"

 **A/N: Oh my god, my fingers hurt... This will be the last update before I go on holiday tomorrow, so I won't be updating for six days. On a side note, I have very,** ** _very_** **limited knowledge on how the government and police work, so if I made any mistakes (which I definitely did), please tell me.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter! MidnightMorpher, out!**


	3. Chapter 2: The Switch

A/N: Hello, hello again, everybody! First off, I want to apologize for the late update. I know that I had promised a new update before my exams, but I couldn't complete it in time. And, to make matters worse, I accidentally uploaded and deleted the draft, I have to start from scratch. :(

Another thing is that my phone screen is kind of screwing me over, especially right now, so forgive me if this seems to have more misspellings than usual.

Other than that, nothing of note had happened to me (except for me anxiously waiting for the release of Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon) so let's jump into the chapter! It may not seem actiony, but it is full of exposition! Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the concept, art or anything about Pokémon, only my original characters and the idea of Pokémon demigods. Maybe. Unless someone already did it and I don't know.

"Normal speech"

'Thoughts'

[August 11, 2016]

"Here we are!" Charles announced jovially. "Lumiose City!"

Charles was driving the borrowed car (Thanks, Captain Grigory) down North Boulevard, taking great care to avoid the Gogoats trotting dangerously close to the road with tourists on their backs. Rows and rows of buildings lined the streets, some tall, some short, all new, all fascinating, all different. A sea of tourists and locals alike streamed in and out of malls like a river's currents, most of them toting brightly-colored bags, and they were avidly taking pictures of of famous sights, like the Lumiose Museum and the Galette Stand. The Prism Tower stood tall and proud in the heart of the city, white as freshly fallen snow. Its gleaming white color was accentuated at night, when it was lit up bright enough to illuminate the entire city by itself.

Melody thought it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Midnight thought it looked like a giant glow stick.

Speaking of Midnight, she hadn't heard anything from her in a while. She turned her head tucked between her knees. 'Uh-oh.'

"Hey, you're going to dirty the seats like that," she said, gently nudging Midnight's foot with her knuckles.

"What?" Midnight looked up, bewildered, as if she hadn't noticed her in the car. "Oh, I... Sorry."

She let her legs fall to the ground with a loud "thud" (something that would have surely earned a reprimand from Captain Grigory), but she still looked distracted.

Melody wondered what was keeping her so occupied. She couldn't possibly be worried about the mission. After all, this wasn't their first mission, far from it. From spying on criminal organizations to chasing down Pokémon poachers, she had seen Midnight jump into every one with unhealthy enthusiasm. Melody had often suspected it was due to her abilities giving her an ego as big as the Lumiose Tower.

"So this is what is going to happen," Charles said, interrupting Melody's train of thought. "I'll drop you guys off at the street up ahead to find Café Soleil. You should be able to find it if you go straight up and turn left at the end of the alley. Wait for me inside, okay?"

"Alright, Charles," she said. Midnight said nothing.

He pulled over at a relatively emptier part of the street and allowed the sisters to clamber out of the backseat. With a yell of "See you later!", he drove off.

"Come on, we have to go find that café," Melody said, turning to see Midnight looking around herself pensively. She tilted her head. This was a new reaction. "Um, Mid? Are you okay?"

Midnight pursed her lips, shaking her head.

"Hm." Just to be safe, she had better keep an eye on her. Grabbing her hand, Melody began leading her down the street.

[C]-0-

Midnight hated cities.

Sure, they had a lot more interesting facilities than what the base had to offer, but they drew so many people to them like flies to a Gogoat's manure. She felt breathless, so many bodies closing in, squeezing, touching. Even in the safety of the car, Midnight felt an invisible hand squeezing her chest every time she glanced outside, so she had kept her head down for most of the trip.

Melody's touch brought her back to reality, which she was grateful for, of course. She was less grateful for the "shoes on the seat" thing, but at least it wasn't from Grigory. THAT would have been a whole other story...

Her stomach gave an unpleasant lurch when the car stopped. She would've stayed in the car until it was time for the meeting, but Melody was having none of it. After a few seconds of Melody tugging stubbornly at her sleeve, Midnight eventually gave up and went outside with her. The heat of the sun rained down angrily on her exposed neck the moment she stepped out of the car, and she squinted against the glare of the sun. There weren't as many people around as she had initially guessed, but still enough to make her uncomfortable.

"So what do you feel like having, Mid?" Melody asked after Charles drove off. "I heard the café serves really good tea, and their pasta options aren't too bad either."

"Mmm." Food was the last thing on her mind right now, but she supposed that she did have to eat something before they meet the police chief. "Maybe some spaghetti."

They turned around a corner, bypassing a pair of thugs leering at them. "Maybe I should try the pie. I hear that they serve Magikarp stew pie that is chock full of ingredients that when you eat it, it's like fireworks of flavors in your mouth! Oh, and the tea they serve is brewed with a Serperior's tail leaves, imported straight from Unova! Actually, I think a lot of their products are from Unova, I heard..."

Midnight remained quiet, content with letting her sister be the sole carrier of this conversation. She knew that Melody was being this animated for her sake, but she just couldn't bring herself to forget about her dream.

She had agreed with Melody's take on the situation, that it wasn't a descendant of Mew responsible for the crime, but as part of her stubbornly refused to accept it. Logically, it was next to impossible for the boot in her dreams to be the serial kidnapper running amok in Lumiose City. She could already imagine her sister's voice saying so.

'Midnight, we don't even know when that dream took place. For all you know, it could've been when demigods were first created, or it may be even in the future and that's your son! No, don't make that face at me. Anyway, if you really were dreaming about the kidnapper, it would make more sense if you had dreamt about the kidnapping and not someone getting eaten by a Hydreigon. And that's assuming if it even happened!'

She held back a sigh. Even after all that, there was something eating away at the edge of Melody's explanation, but for the life of her, she just couldn't make sense of it, and it was driving her fucking nuts.

"This is it, Mid!"

Midnight blinked. Wow. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't even noticed that they had arrived at the café, and she took the time to appreciate why it was one of the more popular rest spots. The café gave the impression of a delicate lily in a field of thorns. Fake vines were entwined intricately around the baby blue menu, with pastel-colored flowers sparsely adorning them, their fragrance wafting through the air. Potted plants, with names that Midnight couldn't be bothered to think about right now, lined the window sills.

The atmosphere seemed to drain away all worries she had a moment ago, and she grinned lazily at Melody, who was humming happily next to her. The atmosphere seemed to be affecting the patrons as well, laughing and interacting with one another and seeming a whole lot cheerier than the cranky tourists outside. "So what do you think, Mid?"

"It looks... pretty." Midnight ignored the delighted look sent her way.

"I get what you're saying, it's so quaint." Melody sighed. "I can't wait to see what they have to offer. Come on, let's go in!"

Midnight immediately dug her heels into the ground against Melody's attempts to pull her into the café. "Hey hey hey! What are you doing? We have to wait for Charles!" she said, panic creeping into her words.

"We can wait for him inside, he knows the way." Unaware of Midnight's concerns, or maybe just ignoring them, Melody gave a harder tug, dislodging her from the ground and yanking her inside.

The sweet tinkling of a bell over their heads announced their entry, drawing a few stares to them. Their gazes felt like hot pokers on her skin, making it itch irritably. The walls and chairs and tables all had intricate designs and were all polished to perfection, making her feel extremely grubby in her simple sweaty attire. She kept her gaze down as Melody guided them to a table tucked away in a dark, lonely corner, thankfully away from prying eyes.

A menu was shoved into her hands. "Here you go! I think you should take a look at their tea selection, you look like you could use a cup now."

Warmth blossomed in her chest, but she squashed it down irritably. "I feel fine, it was just a little hot outside," Midnight insisted.

"Hmm... Well, then you could at least take a look at what they have now." Melody already had her head buried in her own menu,, eyes flicking left and right rapidly. "They also have Pecha Oran Tea, Combee Honey Tea-"

"Oh, I'll have that one!" Charles dropped into a seat next to Melody, jabbing a finger at the menu. "And I'll have that baked rice as well."

"Charles! How was the parking today, was it really crowded?" Melody asked.

Midnight smirked slightly. Since Lumiose City was famous for more than one reason and attracted tourists by the hundreds, it would be expected for one to have a little (read: plenty of) difficulty finding a spot, let alone a good one. That wasn't as funny to Midnight as imagining Charles stuck in the middle of the road looking for a parking lot.

"Pretty packed, but not as bad as it could be. In fact, I think it was easier finding a spot today." At that moment, Charles stopped talking when he caught sight of Midnight. He leaned over the table to peer at Midnight's face, causing her to draw back slightly. "... Is it just me, or do you look paler than usual?"

"What the- Jeez!" First her sister, and now Charles! "I'm fine, it's not like I'm going to drop dead."

"We know, we know," he said placatingly, patting her arm. Midnight resisted shrugging off your touch. "But you can't blame us for being worried, can you? 'Sides, you need to stay well for the meeting later on."

The meeting. It had completely slipped from her mind, but the fresh reminder sent her stomach into another squirming frenzy. She was scared, she knew that much, but scared for who? Herself, or for Melody?

"Midnight? Hellooo, earth to Midnight..."

She blinked stupidly. "Huh?"

"Did you not hear me?" Melody sighed. "I asked, what do you want to eat?"

"O-oh." Her eyes roamed over he page she was currently on with haste, and her eyes landed on the first thing that caught her attention. "Um, Tamato pasta with additional pasta for me."

"So same as usual, then." Just then, a Lillipup came bounding up to them with an order sheet fluttering in its mouth, a tiny bow tie tied around its neck. After cooing over the little waiter for a while, Melody wrote down their order on the sheet and let the Lillipup scamper back to the counter. "Charles, how much time do we have left?"

"About a little more than an hour," he informed after a quick glance at his wristwatch. "Don't worry, we have plenty of time before the meeting."

"Yes, about that meeting." Melody propped her elbow on the table, resting her chin on her open palm as she gazed at the blonde male. "How much do you know about it? I don't want to look like an idiot over there, so any information would be fine."

Charles looked thoughtful, rubbing his chin. "Hmm... Well, I know that they want to have you go undercover to find the kidnapper, but beyond that, I'm not really sure," he said in an undertone. "But you don't have to worry about fighting the kidnapper; Captain G already gave them orders not to let anything happen to you."

Another smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Orders? I wasn't aware that he could order the police around," Midnight said. Melody giggled, no doubt seeing a mental image of Grigory bossing around officers like they were new recruits.

Charles laughed too. "I guess you could say that it's more like "terms" for borrowing you. But even if he didn't say anything, I don't think they would do it, since you're, you know..."

He gestured at them.

"Heh, yeah. I guess that with all he missions we need to do, people forget that we're only sixteen. Heck, we sometimes forget that we're sixteen," Midnight remarked. "But then again, we're not exactly normal sixteen-year-olds."

"Shh...Midnight, keep it down," Melody hissed, glancing at the couple sitting nearest to them.

"Yeah, yeah." Midnight didn't see the big deal about it. The people nearest to them were too far away to hear them, and they wouldn't understand the context of their words anyway. Still, she chose to oblige and lowered her voice. "So how does the police know about our...thing?"

"Oh..." Charles suddenly looked apprehensive, and he fiddled with his hands. "Well, the thing is... They have the reports on the experiments that Team... at Team Rocket's base," he said.

Midnight's eyes widened. That was where they had heard about her? Midnight didn't like the implications of his words, nor the looks Melody and Charles were shooting her, like they expected her to lose it and become a frothing lunatic.

No, she couldn't freak out. She won't overreact over this trivial matter, if she was to prove to Grigory that she was mentally stable enough to be around other people.

"Okay, so they know about me, but what about Melly?" she asked levelly. "How do they know about her?"

"Oh, that's easy." Midnight could see his shoulder sag slightly in relief. "Melody's a recorded demigod, so they would know about her."

Oh. She forgot about that..

Just then, their food arrived. Midnight took the time to sip her tea, and the combination of fresh minty and a light touch of sugar made her taste buds sing with joy. Smiling slightly, she took a deeper gulp.

"It tastes good, doesn't it?"

"Yes, I suppose it does," Midnight said,, averting her gaze from Melody, whom she was sure was grinning. "It's very minty, at least."

"This place has a lot of variety for such an out-of-the-way café," Charles missed between mouthfuls of rice. "It's a pity that I didn't bring you here earlier."

Not to mention that the food was excellent as well. Midnight wolfed down her pasta dish with the enthusiasm of a Munchlax, while Charles and Melody ate at a pace that was far less likely to choke them. A companionable silence fell upon them, occasionally broken by the gentle clinking of utensils against plates and Melody scolding Midnight for her lack of table manners.

This was much more preferable to the meeting later, and she wished that this could last forever, but it was as if someone had pressed a fast-forward button: soon, they were scraping the bottom of the plates for the remains of their meals, while Midnight popped the mint leaf and began sucking on it.

"Well, I suppose that we have to go now," Charles said after draining the last dregs of his honey tea. "It's nearly time."

"Great! Come on, let's go," Midnight exclaimed, jumping out of her seat and pulling Melody out of hers as well. She knew that going out meant sticking herself back into the thick of the crowd, but she had no choice, really.

After Charles had paid for their meals, the trio weaves through the thick throng of tourists outside in search of the Lumiose Police Station, Midnight clinging onto Melody while glancing at every passing person suspiciously. She couldn't help it, they were looking at her funny!

Meanwhile, Charles was prattling on about the various facilities they were passing by. "That's Coiffure Clips. Trainers take their Pokémon their to get a haircut. Or is it a furcut? Maybe you could try it out one day, Midnight-"

Midnight threw him a dirty look.

"-er... Oh! That's the Pokémon Center over there!" Charles yelped out, hurrying out of Midnight's reach. "Which means that the police station should be nearby... Ah, there it is!"

He led both of them to a simple blue-and-white building, which had the words "Lumiose Police Station" emblazoned boldly above the door. There wasn't much activity being the glass window, only a bored-looking clerk slumped behind the front desk.

Charles opened the door, letting the sisters enter first. The rush of cold air was a relief to Midnight, after having wandered under the blazing sun after who-knows-how-long, and she shook her sweaty hair out of her face as Melody stepped around her to survey their surroundings.

Charles was talking to the clerk. "Hello, my name is Charles Smith. Officer Woods should be expecting us, so if you could tell him that we're here..."

"Of course. If you could hold on for a minute." As he dialed the phone, Charles turned to flash them a reassuring smile.

"You girls doing okay?" he asked lowly.

"Of course. I mean, we're only talking to Mr Woods today," Melody said. "We can handle whatever they throw at us."

Midnight grimaced. How could she talk about this so casually, when her powers weren't even on the offensive side? Well, she was shaking in her sneakers. Or maybe that was because the temperature of the air-conditioner was ridiculously low, but anyway, she knew that this mission would be more dangerous than the others, solely based on the fact that it could be another demigod responsible for this. She, the person Grigory told not to get herself killers on a daily basis, was aware of that! Did Melly know something that she didn't?

At that moment, the clerk looked up from the phone just as another officer came up to them. A man with hazelnut hair and ash grey eyes gave them a toothy grin, waving at them genially like they were long-time friends. "This is Mark Culson. He'll show you to Officer Woods," the clerk said dully.

"Aw, lighten up, man! You sound like you're halfway to your grave already," Mark said teasingly, before beckoning for them to follow him.

"I feel like it too," the clerk said somberly as they passed him.

Midnight instantly felt leery around this man - he seemed way too young to be a policeman, and too peppy as well - but Charles and Melly were already following him, so she had no choice but to follow suit. They trailed after him silently, until he stopped them in front of an unmarked door. "Okay, my boss is in there, but he wants to meet only them." He nodded at Midnight and Melody. "So you have to wait out here until we're done."

"Wait, what?" Midnight squawked in alarm. Melody gave her a quizzical look, but she could hardly care about that now. "Why not?"

Mark shrugged. "Not sure myself, but I think he wants to see who's he working with without their babysitter around," he said.

"Wha- Babysitter?!" Melody echoed in an affronted tone. Midnight herself bristled at the insult.

"Or maybe he just heard about you and doesn't want you around," he continued, now smirking widely. "I know I don't."

Charles' mouth fell open, but Mark quickly pushed them through the door and shut it in his face. Midnight didn't even bother with words; she whirled around and gave a swift kick to his shins.

"Ow! Hey! What was that for?" he questioned angrily. "What did I do?"

"You were being an ass to him!" she growled. "And this is for Melly!"

She raised her foot again, but a voice made her freeze. "That will be enough out of you," a male voice, not unlike Grigory's, ordered.

The room they were in seemed like some sort of interrogation room, and a grizzly-looking man was seated at the far end of the table situated in the middle of it. Midnight was sorely tempted to ignore him and continue her attack on the jerk, but a sharp jab in the ribs got her to lower her foot. No use giving the guy they'll be working with a bad impression. Mark had an infuriatingly smug look on his face, which was wiped off by the guy's next words. "And as for you,, Culson, I sure you have better things to do than to pick on two teenage girls," he said drily. "Go and deal with the stack of reports I left on your desk, then bring the case file here when you're done."

Mark had nothing to say. He stalked out of the room, with Midnight shooting filthy looks his way. Once the door closed behind him, the man she assumed to be Officer Woods returned his attention to them. "So you are the demigods that Daniel told me about, hm? One child of Mew, one child of Celebi, am I right?"

They nodded.

Officer Woods seemed slightly disappointed. "I hope you don't mind me saying this, but you aren't exactly what I was expecting. I expected two grown adults, or at least people of age, not two-"

"Scrawny teenagers?" Melody finished, grinning. Midnight didn't know why, she was feeling pretty insulted herself. Were all coops this douchey? "We get that a lot."

"No, we don't," she muttered. Melody smacked her arm a second later.

"First off, I hope that there will be no more assaulting officers," he said, looking pointedly at Midnight.

"No... sir," she said grudgingly.

"I'm glad you understand. You must be wondering why I require your assistance when I have manny officers under my command, am I wrong?"

"No, sir," Melody said.

"Simply put, it's because Daniel has told me that you are experienced in this field, and he has no reason to lie," he said. "And I do not have the luxury to be picky now, so you will have to do."

"Ah, I haven't introduced myself yet, haven't I?" he continued. "My name is Andrew Woods, but you may call me Officer Woods."

"I'm Melody Willows," she introduced. "And this is my sister, Midnight."

"Oh, so you're Midnight."

"Um... Yeah?" Midnight didn't like the change of tone.

He nodded, as if everything suddenly made sense. "Daniel had warned me about you, the 'reckless one'," he said. "You aren't going to give me a hard time during this investigation, are you?"

""What?! No!" Midnight protested.

Officer Woods raised an eyebrow. "I hope so, for the sake of those performers, because you're going to play a major role in this investigation, and the last thing I need is some cocky brat screwing it all up. Now, can you tell me what you know about this case?"

Midnight was too busy fuming to answer, leaving Melody to answer for the both of them. "We read from the newspaper that two performers went missing, and Mr Grigory said that you suspect it's a demigod who's doing this, right?"

"That's right," he confirmed. "We think that because of similar incidents that have taken place in the past. Demigods going missing, and ending up dead in a ditch somewhere else. During those cases, no matter how much evidence we gather, no matter how many people we interrogate, we never manage to confirm who the kidnapper was. And then, out of the blue, we have people tripping over themselves to confess their involvement. Only the densest of people cannot see that this isn't suspicious."

Melody was nodding along thoughtfully, then paused. "Wait, did you say demigods?" she asked, aghast. "As in, groups of demigods are dying off, and you can't find who's behind this?"

And then, "Wait a minute! Are you saying that the Circus World performers are demigods?"

"Yes, registered ones," he said. "They just keep their Marks hidden from the public eye."

"How's that possible?" Midnight cut in skeptically. "All demigods are practically built to fight! Well, most of them, at least. Anyway, how can a human kill a demigod, and without you guys knowing?"

To say. That the idea of psychopathic humans slaughtering scores of demigods was absurd was quite an understatement. Demigods, even those related to lesser legendary Pokémon, were considered sentient milling machines by the rest of society, capable of feats that humans could only dream of. And this cop was suggesting that those very demigods were being killed by humans?

"Wait..." Melody's eyes then lit up with realization. "Oh, so that's why you think a demigod is doing this! Because only another demigod could possibly overpower another demigod!" However, just as quickly as her excitement had come, confusion clouded her features. "But... Then why did those people say that they were the ones responsible? They're human, right?"

"As human as I am," Officer Woods said. "All of them gave us details only the killer could possibly know, however, so they were convicted. Do either of you have any idea what kind of demigod could be responsible?"

Both of them lowered their head in thought. "Hmm...Oh, don't you have a list of registered demigods somewhere here?" Midnight asked. "Why don't you just go through that list? I'm sure that there aren't that many demigods in the first place."

"We tried that." he said wearily. "But all the registered ones have alibis that place them far from the crime scene, so that rules them out. That means that only the unregistered ones could be responsible."

"Oh. Then, maybe a child of a Psychic legendary Pokémon?" Melody suggested. "They could have planted fake memories in them to make them think that they were the ones who did it."

"Maybe, maybe," he said thoughtfully. "But we can't have a solid idea until we have you two sniffing around for incriminating evidence to pin down the killer.."

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but you have the ability to change your appearance-" He pointed at Midnight, who puffed her chest out proudly, "-and you can rewind time." He shifted his finger to Melody.

"Oh, um, it's not exactly rewinding time," she corrected, rubbing the back of her head. "I can only jump back in time.""

Officer Woods frowned. "Is there a difference?"

"Oh, it's just that I can't rewind time to a specific time," she elaborated. "I can only jump back to certain times using items associated with that time. Nobody will remember that I did it."

Except for one.

"I see." He sighed. "Well,, it make things more problematic, but I can still make this work. Now, we discuss your part in this plan."

"I don't want either of you engaging the killer, just have you digging around for anything incriminating. And in order to do that, I'll need to have Midnight go in disguised as one of the performers, to act as bait and protect the other performers at the same time."

"Me? Act as bait?" Midnight snorted. "So you think that us fighting the killer is dangerous, but me being a sitting duck isn't?"

"It will be dangerous, but considerably lesser so," he said calmly. "Which is why I will have your sister posing as your assistant, to help rewind time in case if you are discovered. A new assistant is due to work over there soon, so the killer will not have his suspicion aroused."

Midnight took a deep breath. She was to be the bait, a slab of meat for the murderous dog to chase after. She supposed that she was to be afraid at this point, but the thought of that filthy scum laying his hands on Melody made her more scared than anything.

"But what about the other performers? They'll be in danger too!" Melody protested.

Officer Woods seemed to slump forward at this. "Unfortunately, there is nothin we can do about that. If we bring all of the performers into protective custody, the killer will know that we are on his trail, and it will be extremely difficult to rescue the two missing performers. But I'm sure that you will do your best to look out for them."

Midnight hesitated for a moment, then nodded firmly.

"Good. Now, onto other matters..." The next hour was dedicated to other matters, such as their method of relaying information to him and Midnight's new living arrangements with the other performers. In the middle of it, Mark finally returned and passed the file to his superior, glaring at the sisters along the way.

"Looks like he isn't too fond of us, huh?" Midnight sniggered. Melody simply rolled her eyes at her.

"And one last thing," Officer Woods said, after going over the other details. "The person I want you to replace is Penny, the...pink one."

"Huh? Why her?"

"Because she is the only one not confined to her section. It is a habit of hers to help her fellow performers in their own sections, so you wouldn't raise suspicions if they see you going around."

"Oh, um... Alright then." She accepted his reasoning unhappily. She knew who Penny was, or "Playmate Penny" as she was more commonly known among the kids, and she did not want to spend hours on end being pulled around by little brats. But judging from his tone, it was unlikely that any amount of arguing would sway him.

Officer Woods nodded with a satisfied expression. "If you don't have any questions, then you Amy leave now. Tomorrow we will start the investigation." He passed a folder to Midnight. "This is everything you need to know about Penny. Make sure to memorize everything in here, then pass it back to me in one piece."

He made a gesture of dismissal. Midnight was the first to leave the room. She hated to admit it,, but Mark constantly glaring at them from behind Officer Wood's back was too unnerving for her to handle today. Hopefully she'll get to kick him between the legs the next time they meet.

Charles was leaning against the wall outside, arms crossed and eyes half-closed. He didn't seem aware that they were outside. One look at the situation, and an idea to improve her mood popped into her mind. An evil grin stretched across her face.

Melody realized too late. "Wait, don-"

Midnight lurched forward, grabbing his arms and shoving her face in his. "BAH!"

His eyes shot open, and he let out a shrill scream while flapping his arms about hysterically. Midnight drew back to avoid his flailing arms, guffawing.

"Midnight!" Melody said reproachfully. "This isn't the time for playing around!"

"Oh! Oh, I nearly got a heart attack," Charles groaned, running is chest.

"Come on, you'll say that no matter when I do it," Midnight said flippantly.

Melody shook her head. "We're leaving now," she said firmly, taking her by the hand. All three of them exited the building, passing the sleeping clerk along the way, a burst of sunlight the first thing to greet them.

"So were supposed to go back straight away, right Charles?" Melody asked.

"Yeah. Sorry, I'd love to bring you around, but Captain G made it

VERY clear to me that I was supposed to bring you back immediately. But," he continued, "we did finish earlier than expected, so if you want to buy something, you better make it quick."

"Oh! Oh! I know what I want to get! Wait here!" Before Midnight could even open her mouth, Melody was hurrying off. She turned to give Charles a bewildered look. "Do you have any idea what she's getting?"

Charles shook his head. "If you don't know, then I sure as heck don't."

Not like they had to wait too long to find out. Five minutes later, they spotted Melody rushing back to them, something clasped in her hand. "Midnight, I have something to give you! Close your eyes!" she demanded.

"Something to give me? Is there something going on today?" Midnight asked, closing her eyes.

She felt her right arm pulled forward and something thin pulled across her wrist. "It's actually supposed to be your birthday present, but I thought that you could use the extra good luck for the mission," she explained. "Okay, you can open your eyes now."

She complied, and a bracelet caught her eye. Upon closer inspection, she realized that the string was actually made up of braided blue threads, with a single crystal blue was hung in the middle. "Ooh, it's really pretty," she said sincerely.

Melody's face lit up. "Thanks! I was afraid that you wouldn't like it. I ran out beads before making this, actually, so I had to..."

Just then, a thought occurred to her as to how to end the day perfectly. Grinning mischievously, she suddenly bent over and grabbed Melody, hoisting her onto her shoulder. "And this is my present to you, Mell!" she hollered, taking off down the street like a bullet. The indignant voice of Melody yelling at her floated down the street while Charles chased after them, shouting that they were going the wrong way. None of them had noticed Mark watching them from the window.

"So those are the demigods we'll be working with?" he muttered, shaking his head. "Unbelievable..."

"... But at least thing's will be interesting now."

A/N: Phew, this took me too long to get out, but at least it's out! I hope you guys enjoy it, despite its lack of action, and maybe leave a comment on mistakes or how to improve my story. :)

Chapter 3: Operation Circus (Part 1)

In which the Willow sisters begin the investigation.


	4. Chapter 3: Operation Circus Part 1

A/N: Hello hello again, everybody! It's been a while, but here is Chapter 3!

I finally found someone who would be willing to draw for me! Her username is maipricot, and she has agreed to draw up better quality art for the story for a price! I hope that it would be to everyone's liking.

Alright, without further ado, let's proceed with the story!

~0~

Chapter 3: Operation Circus (Part 1)

[August 12, 2016]

'Her name is Penny.'

'She is currently 14-years-old.'

'She works as a performer at Circus World, or a glorified babysitter for bratty kids, if you will.'

'She has no blood relatives working nor living with her, but is adopted by the other performers, so she lives with them. Great...'

'Always squabbles with her brother, Frederick...'

'Closest to Benjamin Bancroft...'

The profile went on and on, and it made Midnight sick to even think about it. Officer Woods had told them that they would be bringing the performers in for "questioning", like whether they have seen anyone suspicious or anything unusual, yada yada. But in reality, Midnight would be taking the place of Penny Lucke, who was already scheduled to be interviewed last, while Melly will disguise herself as her helper.

Midnight had just planned on letting Penny's side take over until she saw the need to take back control, so what was the point of her memorizing all these crap? But noooo, her sister had to insist that she remember this all by heart...

"You managed to get everything there, Mid?"

Midnight glowered at the back of the seat. They were currently stuck in a traffic jam, which meant that she was stuck with a chattering Melody for Arceus-knows-how-long. And Charles wasn't helping with his endless stream of comforts either.

"It's going to be alright, guys. You guys are tough, you can find this guy in no time! I would offer to help, but Captain G doesn't really trust me with this sort of thing, hah hah..."

"Then why did they let you become a helicopter pilot?" Midnight groused under her breath.

"We'll be alright, Charles," Melody said, patting his arm. "It's going to be difficult, but I am confident that we can solve this case!"

"That makes one of us, at least."

Melody glared impatiently at her. "Shush, Mid! We're going to solve this case, I know it!" she insisted. "Well... We will if you don't throw yourself into danger, at least."

Midnight rolled her eyes. "If I recall correctly, all those times I "jumped into danger" were when I saved your ass," she retorted.

"And then we have to save YOU! Midnight, this isn't a game, you know." Melody was absolutely brimming with disapproval now. "Why do you never take anything seriously? You can't even memorize this file, and now you're not thinking about the consequences of jumping into danger recklessly!"

"I've already told you, I don't NEED to memorize it!" Midnight snapped. "Would you stop harping on me about that?!"

"People's lives are at stake, so no, I will not 'stop harping on you about it'!" Melody said. "Do you not care about them? Are you really that apathetic?"

Midnight gritted her teeth. "You know what? I don't. I don't give a crap about them at all!" she yelled, her voice rising to a frustrated shout. "There, you happy?!"

Melody's eyes widened. "You-"

"That's enough!" Charles interjected loudly before their squabbling could go further. "You're going to be working together later on, could you not start fighting now?"

Midnight huffed, plopping back against her seat.

"This is a girl's matter, Charles," Melody said sternly. "And you can't interfere, alright?"

"Well... uh..." Charles looked so flustered, a far cry from his earlier tone, that Midnight could barely hold in a snicker. "Captain G told me to watch over you guys, so..."

Her eyes softened a little. "That's sweet, but sometimes, you just have to let us work out our disagreements," Melody said.

Midnight raised an eyebrow. "He doesn't trust you to help us, but he trusts you to 'babysit' us?"

"Are you still sour about that Carlson guy?" Melody asked exasperatedly.

Charles chuckled. "Aw, it isn't babysitting. It's just watching over you," he assured. "Captain G knows you guys are...mature enough to take care of yourselves. That's the whole reason he let you go on missions, including this one!" He then shot Midnight a look over his shoulder. "Well... More or less mature."

"... You really have a death wish, don't you?"

"Uh... Oh, there's the police station!" Charles hastily said. "Come on, let's hurry!"

(Un)luckily, they managed to find a parking spot after traffic began moving again, and the sisters hopped out of the car and entered the building after Charles wished them luck on their mission. The clerk immediately sent them to the interrogation room, where Officer Woods was waiting for them. Sitting at the opposite end of the table was a girl with white hair streaked with hues of bubblegum pink.

Penny!

Midnight vaguely remembered seeing Penny at Circus World, and the girl in front of her couldn't be any different from that memory. Penny Playmate was a jovial young girl who always radiated happiness wherever she went, and was a friend to all children. The Penny before her lacked the white body paint she had as a performer, and she was scowling heavily at both of them, an admittedly strange expression on a teenage girl. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her foot was bouncing impatiently.

"Ah, there they are. Miss Lucke, these are the girls I mentioned just now," Officer Woods said, gesturing towards them.

Penny looked them over, a deeply skeptical look plastered across her face. "They're the ones helping you find Uncle Ben and Belle?" she snorted. "How are they supposed to do that?"

Midnight raised an eyebrow at Melody. "Uncle Ben?" she mouthed.

"Benjamin," Melody mouthed back.

"Do you remember what I had told you just now?" Officer Woods asked gently.

"Yeah, but are they really demigods? They don't look like it," she commented.

"Neither do you," Midnight shot back.

Her eyebrows drew together, and a sharp jab in the ribs reminded her that this was supposed to be the girl that she would be replacing.

"You're just messing with me, aren't you?" Penny said accusingly. "There are no more shapeshifting demigods around! Uncle Benny gave me a book about it!"

She suddenly jumped to her feet, the chair clattering onto the ground. "Uncle Benny and Mom are gone, and all you can do is make up stuff to make me feel better! Becca was right, you lot are useless!" she spat. "This interview is over!"

"Oh no, it is not," Midnight said lowly.

Penny made to leave the room, but Midnight was faster. Like a Serperior, her hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, yanking her back. Midnight directed all of her attention to Penny alone: the noises of Melody and Officer Woods yelling and Penny protesting turned into an unidentifiable buzz. All that mattered to her was Penny's personality, relationships and general persona.

"Hey! Let go, you weirdo! What do you think you're-" Her heated protests were abruptly cut off as her eyes glazed over, and she remained like that even after Midnight released her.

Officer Woods whistled lowly. "So that's how it is done, huh..." he said.

After a few seconds, Penny seemed to regain her bearings, and she shook her head. "Wh-what just happened? Felt like you were s-sucking something out of me..." She shuddered.

"Don't get your panties in a twist. I'm just borrowing her DNA," Midnight said in response to Officer Wood's questioning look. "Then I can mimic her behavior to the T."

A hand suddenly yanked her ear, causing her to let out a yip of surprise. "Midnight! How many times have I told you not to do that without people's permission?" Melody scolded. "The least you could do is tell them before you do it, you know."

"What? I got the job done, didn't I?"

Officer Woods sighed. "Anyway, it is about time that we escort Miss Lucke to the safe house. We would have the remaining performers brought to the safe house until the perpetrator is caught, but past attempts have proven that method useless. Not only did the perp catch on, we also had fewer clues that pointed us to who it could have been. That is to say, absolutely nothing." He turned to Penny. "I hope you understand, and I assure you that we will do our utmost best to rescue your family."

"But-"

Officer Woods held up his hand, silencing her. "I understand that we are taking a huge risk, but this may be our only chance to take the culprit by surprise; by sicking skilled demigods on him. Don't worry, they are experienced in this field," he said, correctly interpreting Penny's expression. "All I need you to do is to stay at the safe house and do NOT leave, no matter the circumstances. Do we have an understanding?"

Both of them stared at each other long and hard, but eventually Officer Woods emerged as the victor. "... Aye," Penny mumbled.

"Good. I will have one of police officers escort you right now." He raised a finger to his ear, and after a brief exchange, a black-haired officer came and brought Penny out of the room.

As Penny passed by them, she paused long enough to look up at them with unreadable eyes. "... You better bring them back safely, or I'll make you regret it." Before either of them could utter a word, Penny quickly turned and hurried out of the room.

Midnight huffed. Better bring them back, or she'll "make them regret it"? Who did she think they were?

Once the door closed behind their backs, Officer Woods asked, "I trust you know what you have to do, Willows?"

"Of course I do. We just talked about it yesterday," Midnight said impatiently. "Sniff around for clues that points us to the culprit, then relay whatever information I have to Melly, no matter how trivial it may seem, so that she can relay it to you."

"Precisely. I'm glad we are on the same page, despite what Daniel had said."

'What the- How much shit-talking did Grigory do behind my back?!' To say that Midnight was pissed was an understatement.

He glanced at his wrist. "It's about time the performers are sent back, so I suggest you hurry up and...do whatever it is you're supposed to do."

Her anger dissipated at those words, and her mouth twitched. Finally, something right goes her way! "You don't have to tell me twice."

Taking a deep breath, Midnight turned every last bit of attention to Penny Lucke: a girl who was orphaned at an early age and taken in by the Circus World performers, she got along well with the children. She was eventually given her own area to be turned into a massive playroom for the children, and she was very successful in entertaining the masses with the help of her favorite uncle, Benjamin Bancroft. She was sweet to the kids, snappy with Baby, playful to Uncle Ben, mildly aggressive to Freddy...

She didn't want to just look like her. She wanted to be her.

Midnight could feel her hair grow slightly, and her body jerked and shrank to match Penny's physique. Her eyes changed color, her limbs filled out more to give her a healthier appearance, and her skin felt as smooth as a baby's under her shortened fingers.

But that wasn't the end of it. Gritting her teeth, she willed her clothes and hair colour to change and match Penny's.

By the time she was done , Midnight was breathing harder than normal, but other than that, she felt quite alright. Changing into a being with a similar body shape was less physically demanding than turning into a, say, quadruped. It still required a little energy though: she felt like she had jogged around Lumiose City.

"How do you feel?"

Midnight sighed. "You don't see me on the floor, do you?"

"You know that's not what I meant." Two hands cupped her face and lifted it up, her eyes examining every inch of her face. "Hmm... Looks like you could use a little more practice in the future, but other than that, you're fine."

"What are you, my nanny?" Midnight grumbled.

"Well, I might as well be, what with all the trouble you can get yourself into. Plus, I give pretty great advice, if I do say so myself," Melody said. "Didn't I tell you it would be good for you to memorize that profile of hers?"

Midnight's eyes widened. Craaaap, she forgot about that. "Th-that doesn't mean you're right, Melly!" she said huffily.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked teasingly, and much to her mortification, she pulled Midnight closer and gave her a peck on the head. "Just remember everything you read and you'll be fine."

Midnight was struggling to spit out coherent sentences when Officer Woods cleared his throat. "I must admit, witnessing a demigod displaying their abilities is a far more different experience than reading about it on a report."

"But that is enough idle chit-chat out of me. Willows, Carlson will be escorting you back to the waiting room, where the other performers are waiting, then you will all be sent back to Circus World with police escorts. Your sister will be remaining here with me until Carlson returns to escort her to Circus World separately. From then on, you know what to do, right?"

"Yes sir," Melody chirped, while Midnight nodded silently.

"Carlson, you may come in now."

The door swung open at that instant, and Mark strode in briskly. "Morning, everybody," he said breezily, his eyes falling upon Midnight. "You the one I need to bring back?"

She nodded tersely.

"Gotcha, come on." Without a single glance at Melody, Mark walked out of the room. Midnight made to hurry after him, but a pair of arms suddenly encircled her waist.

"Be safe," Melody whispered.

"... Yeah, you too," she muttered back. Midnight wiggled free from her grip and hurried out after Mark, quickly smoothing down her mussed up hair.

Mark was already halfway down the hallway. "Oi, hurry up!" he snapped, not slowing down for her one bit.

'Mark must be on his period to be this bitchy,' Midnight thought furiously as her thirteen-year-old body struggled to catch up to him.

As though he had sensed her thoughts, Mark glanced down at her. "What's with that look, huh?"

Midnight pursed her lips. She couldn't afford to say anything that might give her away... Oh, but it was so tempting to ask Mark how did he turn into such an asshole...

"Hmph." Mark started walking again, apparently having lost interest in waiting for her answer. "Just don't do anything stupid, like, trying to find him yourself. Then maybe you might not be taken away."

Midnight jerked her head up in surprise. "Him? You mean the kidnapper?"

"Who else? God, are you always this slow?" he said scornfully. "I know from experience that teenagers tend to do stupid things, but I'm hoping that you demigods have a little more common sense than that. If not... Well, it just means more work for me if you get kidnapped."

She scowled. Midnight may not know much about the ins and outs of the police force, but she was pretty sure that they weren't supposed to be saying such things. "Well, if you weren't so bad at your job, maybe you wouldn't have such a hard time trying to find them!" she spat.

So much for keeping her mouth shut.

Mark's brows furrowed. "You best watch your mouth," he growled, "considering that I'm in charge of your safety."

His hand suddenly snatched her up by the collar, cutting off her air and making her squawk. Dragging her towards a door, he flung it open and threw her into a bland room with only a row of chairs to the side. Without another word, he slammed the door shut.

'That bastard!' she thought, rubbing her throat gingerly. 'Grr, once this mission is over, I'll-'

"Penny!"

Midnight blinked, turning around. She hadn't noticed earlier, but there were three more people in the room with her: a red-headed girl with a ribbon around her neck in front of her and a dark-skinned boy, who had a little girl sitting on his shoulder, sitting with the chair backwards.

"What on earth did you say to him?" the short, red-headed girl demanded, stomping towards her and shoving her face in Midnight's.

Midnight resisted shoving her away. "I, um..."

"What? What did you say?"

"C-calm down!" Midnight squawked, raising her hands defensively. "I didn't say anything about Samuel, I swear!"

Midnight didn't know why that was the first thing to fly out of her mouth, but it seemed to appease the girl slightly. At least, her shoulders sagged slightly. "What about the old building?" she persisted. "Did you say anything about that?"

"N-no."

"... Good! And make sure that it stays that way!" Before Midnight could say a word, she whirled around and walked off to the other side of the room.

'Wow.' This must be 'Baby', the lead singer of Circus World and leader of the performers. The girl and Baby shared only physical traits between them, like their fiery red hair and pale green eyes. She was dressed in what Midnight assumed was her casual clothes, but she still somehow manages to have an aura of a leader around her despite her diminutive size.

Oh, how different this version was compared to her stage persona!

When the shock of seeing Baby's true colors wore off, Midnight noticed a burly boy with a little girl on his shoulder approaching her. In an instant, Midnight let Penny take control of her body, lest she said something that could potentially give her away.

"Hey, Pen! What was going on with that officer just now?" the boy asked.

This boy seemed nice enough, but Penny remained tense. "He was being an a- I mean, a jerk earlier, dragging me around like a ragdoll."

The boy cocked his head to one side. "Really? He was pretty nice earlier, what did you say to make him mad?"

The girl on his shoulder giggled. "Probably by being herself, Freddy."

'Ah, so that's Freddy! And the kid on his shoulder must be Vinny.'

'Wait, what did they mean, by being herself?'

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Penny asked flatly.

"I mean, isn't that why you're the only one without a stage?" Vee continued in a overtly casual tone. "'Cause you'll just make all the kids cry."

'Um... This is getting a little personal.'

Freddy burst into rambunctious laughter. "Ha, good one, Vee!"

"Thanks, Fred!"

"W-well, the reason I'm the only one without a stage is actually because I'm the only one capable of handling dozens of children myself," Penny said defensively, "instead of just hiding in the backstage like Spazzy here!"

Freddy's smile slid off his face like butter. "Spazzy?! I'll have you know that that was just a one-time thing!" he said. "The kid wasn't supposed to be there anyway, and he gave me a fright! It wasn't my fault he was standing so close!"

'Oh yeah, I remember him doing that. That made my birthday.'

"Yeah, and that excuse went well with his parents," Penny snorted. "Remind me again, how did they react?"

"They didn't keep harping on it like you do, for starters!" Freddy retorted. "And they agreed not to press charges after we compensated them, so it went relatively well... I think."

Penny was wholly unimpressed by that bit of information. "Uh huh, sure. And don't get me started on that time you-"

"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP?!"

Both of them jumped at that. Midnight turned her head to see Baby standing in front of them with her arms akimbo. "We have TWO family members missing, and all can you do is argue, argue, argue! And not even about the important stuff! What is your ISSUE?!" Much to Midnight's horror, she could see Baby's eyes watering. "You-you-"

Words failing her, Baby shook her head in disgust and returned to her side of the room, her back to them. Penny and Freddy exchanged a shocked look, while Vee was watching Baby's back anxiously.

"Should we...say something?" Penny muttered, gesturing at Baby.

"I'll go." With that bold proclamation, Freddy lumbered over to Baby and began speaking with her lowly, Vee occasionally jumping in.

Seeing them huddled together like that made Penny feel...lonely. Even for Midnight, who didn't consider herself the most empathetic person on the planet, the sense of loneliness was palpable.

This annoyed Midnight to no end. 'Say something! For the love of Arceus, just speak!' she urged silently.

Maybe it was because of Midnight or a decision on her own part, but Penny began to open her mouth. "Um, hey-"

Suddenly, the door swung open, admitting the black-haired officer who had escorted the real Penny earlier. "Apologies for the interruption, but we must be leaving immediately," he said in a gentle voice. Penny decided that she rather liked his voice; it reminded her of soft velvet. "I must escort you back to Circus World."

"Of course." Like a switch flipped, Becca had switched from the sharp-tongued, pushy leader to a reasonably calm representative of the Circus World performers. Penny was indifferent to it, of course, but Midnight had to admit that she was mildly impressed. Emphasis on "mildly".

They silently filed out of the room one-by-one, with Becca leading the group. Penny trailed behind, providing Midnight the opportunity to observe them quietly.

Freddy and Vee were busy heckling each other, while Becca looked ready to knock their heads together. Midnight herself could feel Penny's urge to interject that Freddy's big mouth could land in trouble again, but Midnight held her back this time. 'No, not another one. It's too early, I can't handle this much arguing in one day.'

They were quickly ushered into a police car, where the officer drove them towards Circus World. Freddy and Vee were happily chatting away, and Becca was silently looking out of the window, looking like she didn't have a single care in the world. Midnight, on the other hand, felt like her nerves were on the fritz. What will she discover there? How will she find anything there when she was supposed to entertain children for hours on end? And whoever was kidnapping the performers was practically established to be a demigod, yet they had absolutely no clue as to what kind of demigod they were!

A large hand suddenly slapped her on the back so hard she nearly faceplanted into the seat. "Hey, what's that on your wrist?" Freddy asked. "Looks like a three-year-old made it for you!"

Midnight was about to shoot back that it happened to be her own sister that made it, and that he could jump off a cliff, before she realized that Penny didn't have a sister that would make a bracelet for her. Nor would Penny tell Freddy to jump off a cliff. "Um, as a matter of fact, it was a kid who made this. Someone from work. I still had it in my pocket, and I thought that I should wear it, you know? Benny would have done that."

As soon as she said that, a wave of sadness washed over Penny. She looked away without another word.

"Aw, why the long face?" Freddy cackled.

"Shut up," Penny said grumpily.

"Oh, come on. A Penny for your thoughts?" Vee sniggered.

"I said shut up!"

"Both of you shut up!" Becca snarled. "Or I'll stick you two on cleaning duty again!"

All of them fell silent, save for Freddy and Vee's giggling. Because leaned around the driver's seat and asked, "How much longer?"

"Not long, miss."

'Not long.' She didn't have much time left. Midnight mentally scrabbled around to recollect her thoughts, but her mind was soon clouded by Penny's indignant mumbling.

~0~

"And...done." Melody stepped back to admire her handiwork. "Not bad for my first try, huh?"

"Eh, could be worse." Midnight was now dressed in Penny's work clothes, which resembled Freddy's but was bubblegum pink and came with a somewhat frilly bow tie, and they were as itchy as hell. Every inch of Penny's exposed skin was covered in white body paint as well. "Do I look like her?"

"Exactly like her." Melody looked like a mother whose child just took his first steps. "Now remember not to enjoy yourself too much, okay?"

Midnight grimaced. Somehow, she had a feeling that she wouldn't be able to enjoy herself even if she tried, but what can she do about it?

"Well, time to put on a show." Like water flowing through a sieve, Midnight swapped places with Penny's conscious, putting her back in control.

Penny stepped out of the changing room and into the playroom. Midnight's memory of the place was fuzzy at best, but she still could remember the majority of facilities here. The old ones were still here: the bouncy castle, ball pit and "Art and Craft" section. But there were also new additions, such as the arcade games in the corner. Of course, all of them were still colored in various shades of pink and red, in a vain effort to match with Penny's tastes. All it did was make the entire room look like an eyesore. Not that that opinion was extended to the children.

There were already about half a dozen children scattered around in there, and they all looked up upon her entry.

"Goooood morning, everyone!" Penny greeted enthusiastically. "Who's ready to play with Playmate Penny?"

~0~

A few hours had passed since she had first arrived to Circus World, yet Melody was still amazed by how radically different she looked from her old self. 'Is this how Midnight feels every time she transforms?' she marveled silently. 'I've really been missing out.'

She was to be Midnight's...er, Penny's assistant. The way Officer Woods explained it, it seemed easy enough: help out Midnight-as-Penny and look for clues that could possibly point them to the culprit. She remembered the last time she played here, and the children were relatively well-behaved that time. That'll still be the case, right?

WRONG.

She had never been witness to so many fights before, even with an explosive person like Midnight! Each kid was their own special kind of devil: screaming, kicking and biting over a cheap plastic toy that had captured their attention, and nothing she did or say could convince them to just share. Apparently there was another assistant precedent to her, and it had not been too long after she quit before Melody herself came along, which would explain their unwillingness to listen to her, but really?!

And the end result if it all? Absolutely nothing. None. Zero. Zilch. There was about a twelve to one ratio of children and adults in the area, and the children naturally didn't know any intimate details about the kidnapping. The adults were no better; so much to talk about, and so little about the topic she wanted. The most she had gotten was that Benjamin had went out on an errand for Rebecca (his daughter), and to not come back from it. Belle had went out to search for him, only to wind up missing as well. She had already read that in the newspaper, so that piece of information was next to useless.

By the time her lunch break rolled around, she was feeling tired, hungry and pissed. Stomping out of the playroom (where Penny was expertly handling two kids in the bouncy castle), she raced towards the break room and practically threw herself in.

The break room comprised of one room with ovens and a fridge on one side, and a wooden table surrounded by tables in the middle. She collapsed bonelessly onto one of the chairs.

"Rough day?" one of the staff members asked sympathetically.

"Ugh, worse than that," Melody groaned. "Did the kids get brattier over the years, or is it just me?"

"Don't worry, it usually starts out like that," someone else said. "The kids size up the newbies for 'bout a week or two. If they like you, then they'll be nicer. If not... Well, you can ask the last one."

'Hm, they seem to be familiar with the system here... Oh, then maybe they'll know about the kidnappings!'

"What? You want to know about the missing performers?" Carlos, one of the workers, said. "Why?"

"Well... You know, I just want to know more so that I could be more...careful." Melody cringed inwardly. More careful? What kind of excuse was that?! Oh, where was Midnight when you needed her? Melody had a feeling that she'd be better at lying to someone's face than herself.

"Uh-huh." Carlos sounded unconvinced, but nevertheless, he started talking. "If you must know, then I guess I could tell you. Do you know who's Samuel Lark?"

"Um..."

"Moron, of course she doesn't know. She's new here, remember?" Tabitha's glare softened when she turned to Melody. "Samuel's the technician around here. He actually doesn't do much here, just runs maintainence checks on the equipment here. Now normally, we would have just trained a few staff members for technical problems, but since that Samuel's been around since the previous location, the boss felt like it would be too much of a hassle to spend money on training and just kept him around."

"Previous location?" Melody echoed. "Are you taking about the one with the animatronics?"

"That's the one," she confirmed. "Do you know why they closed down?"

Melody frowned in thought. "Was it because...if the animatronics malfunctioning?"

"That, and the other equipments weren't working too well. The animatronics kept breaking down, and one of them even hurt the restaurant patrons." Tabitha's eyes were gleaming now. "The staff were also getting injured by the leaking pipes and whatnot, so eventually it was closed down, and this was built." She gestured around her. "But now the kidnapping happened. Weird, huh?"

"And they still let the technician stay? Even though all that happened?" 'Surely no one could be that stupid,' Melody thought with amazement.

"Well, to be fair, Samuel was the only one doing his best to keep the place running," she admitted. "But the place eventually became too expensive to maintain, and real-life were hired."

"Ah... Wait, what does Samuel have to do with the disappearances then?"

Tabitha tutted loudly. "Hold your Gogoats, I'm not done yet! So Samuel used to work on the animatronics, yeah? So it didn't seem too strange when Samuel started coming up to the performers lately."

Melody's eyes widened when the implications sank in. "So...so you're saying-"

"She's not saying anything!" Carlos cut in forcefully. "Listen up, newbie. Sam's not involved in anything. He's just friendly with the performers, like all of us. Plus, Benjamin and Belle went missing after he left, so he couldn't have done it! You keep nosing into other people's business like this and you'll find yourself facing our boss for misconduct!"

"...got it." Inside, her mind was racing. He said that the two performers went missing after Samuel vacated the building, and Melody herself knew that they went missing while running an errand for Rebecca, who is apparently Baby. Could Samuel be responsible? Benjamin and Belle did go out separately, so it was possible for Samuel to hogtie one and knock out the other, then drag them off to wherever he's keeping them.

But if so, then what was his motive? Anger that his beloved animatronics were scrapped, and taking it out on the poor performers? Or is he, in a twisted sense, keeping them as replacements for his old animatronics?

"Carlos, there's no need to shout at her," Tabitha said reproachfully. "She was asking, is all."

"And you're no help at all!" Carlos' attention was now shifted on the blonde woman. "You keep blathering on and on with no regard, no wonder all these rumors are flying around! Sam's already having his phone blasted with death threats because of this, and yet you-"

Ignoring his rant, Melody asked, "Is that building still around?"

"What?" he snapped.

"The old building, where the old animatronics are. Is it still around, or is it demolished already?"

"It's still around, honey," Tabitha jumped in. "Just at the end of North Boulevard. But they're planning to have it torn down and converted into a-"

"Tabby! Stop! Talking! Now!" Carlos roared, his face rapidly purpling. "I swear to Arceus, if you do not shut up this instant, I will-"

"I'll only shut up if you take that stick out of your ass," she huffed. "God, lighten up a little, will you?"

The other workers watched the ensuing explosion with avid interest, so none of them noticed their youngest member slipping out of the break room.

~0~

While all that was happening, Midnight was in the playroom having the time of her life

Well, to be more accurate, Penny was the one having the time of her life. Midnight was bashing her head against a mental wall.

So many screaming children. So much pulling. And so. Much. Talking. Midnight's conscious felt a deep ache at the back of her head, but Penny didn't seem to mind. Maybe the pay was curbing her complaints.

Unfortunately, her headache was the least of her worries. So far, she had been confined to the playroom during the scheduled periods of playtime, and even utilizing the free time she had didn't help. Periodic trips to the other areas quickly proved that the children didn't know anything, and the adult workers were strangely evasive about the topic. Maybe the police was purposely keeping them in the dark, though Midnight thought it would've been smarter to inform them about the danger.

Oh well, sucks to be them.

Now, Penny had just finished playing with a pair of twins in the bouncy castle and was thinking about leaving the playroom again. She wasn't expecting new information to pop up in a span of half an hour, but she had to at least try.

She was about to leave for Freddy's stage when she felt a small tugging on her sleeve. Midnight could feel her blood pressure rise at that little gesture, but Penny automatically turned to tend to the kid. 'Just one more kid, then I'm done here,' she promised herself.

"What's the matter, Mary?" Penny smiled.

"I drew something for you!" The gurl squeaked. "Come, come!"

With the strength only children have, she dragged Penny over to a blue table at the drawing section. "Look, I made this for Uncle Benny and Ballora!" The next moment, a piece of paper was pressed into her hands.

It was a simple crayon drawing depicting Benjamin and Belle holding hands and standing in a grassy field, with the words "GET WELL SOON!" written above them.

It was even a good drawing; Benjamin and Belle holding hands with only their iconic features to distinguish between them. There wasn't even anything else in the picture.

So why was Penny feeling this intense grief?

Midnight had to find out. She abruptly pulled Penny aside and took control for herself.

"Uh, it looks very lovely, Mary," Midnight said with forced calm in her voice. "But what do you mean by 'get well soon'?"

Mary looked up at her, pouting. "Uncle Benny and Ballora are sick, right? So I made a "get well" card for them! That's what I always do for my mummy and daddy. Look, I wrote stuff inside!" She snatched back the Card and opened it, handing it back for Penny to read.

"Dear Uncle Benny and Ballora,

I hope that you will get better soon so that you can come back and play wit us again! We mis you lots, so please take your icky medecin and quikly feel better! Penny and Freddy and Baby all miss you lots too, and it's not the same without you here!

Love, Mary"

"Get well soon".

Penny felt her throat constrict, and her eyes started stinging. Despite what the adults may think, the children truly cared about the performers, and to see them show concern for the wrong reasons were sending mixed feelings through her heart. But the one she chose to act on is her gratitude.

"Penny? Is there something wrong?" Mary asked in a tremulous voice.

"Oh! I-it's nothing, Mary." Penny knelt down and pulled her into a hug to hide her watery eyes. "Don't worry your little head about it, I'll make sure that they see this."

'If they come back alive.'

"Yay! Thank you, Penny!" She watched as Mary wriggled free from her grip and ran off to rejoin her brother at one of the tables.

Midnight, who watched all that transpired in silence, was speechless. The kids thought that they were ill ? Who the hell started that rumor? She recalled Baby's pushy questions back at the police station, but it only served to make things more confusing! Who could scare Baby and fool the public? Maybe one of the higher-ups?

But if that was the case, then what about the kidnapper? There was a dangerous guy loose, and the employers decide to hush everything up?! Unless...unless the kidnapper was controlling them, somehow? Oh Arceus...

A hand suddenly fell on her shoulder, making her squeak. "I'm going, I'm going to-" Penny turned to see her assistant, Maria. "-oh, it's you."

"There's no need to sound so disappointed," Maria said, amusement in her voice. "You've been here the entire time, you can go ahead and take a quick breather."

"Huh? Oh-oh yeah." She was about to do that, wasn't she?

In a daze, Penny's legs carried her through the doors and down a pastel pink, checkered hallway covered in posters advertising her playroom. Bulletin boards were drilled into the wall with numerous photographs tacked onto it, as well as pictures drawn by the children. As Midnight watched through Penny's eyes, she noticed that there were a number of drawings dedicated to Benjamin and Belle.

It ranged from wishing them a speedy recovery to missing them to penned-down wishes, but the sentiment behind all was clear: all of the children wanted them back.

As Penny's eyes roamed from drawing to drawing, it slowly dawned on Midnight why Penny stayed in the job.

"Hey, Pen!"

'Oh no...' Penny watched with a nettled expression as Freddy casually strode towards her.

"What?" she asked shortly.

"Oh, Baby made me come here to tell you to stop wandering around so much, but I don't really care about that. She just gave me an excuse to leave my area, so I guess I have you to thank for that." He chuckled nervously.

Penny stared at him. What was he trying to pull? "I guess so," she replied noncommittally.

An awkward silence fell upon them. Penny was keeping her eyes trained on everything but Freddy when he asked, "What's that?"

She followed his gaze, and she realized that he was looking at the card still clutched in her hand. She hastily tried to stuff it in her pocket, but Freddy was quicker.

He grabbed the card from her hand and held it well above her reach, examining it. He then looked at the other drawings while Penny watched with mingling embarrassment.

Finally, Freddy shifted his gaze to Penny, with...sympathy?...in his eyes. "Makes you wish that we can tell them the truth, huh?"

Penny snapped her head at him, startled. 'Is he talking about the children?' "...Why are we keeping this a secret anyway?" she asked, looking forlornly at the drawings.

"Because we'll lose our jobs if we don't. Or that's what Rebecca says anyway." Something in his voice drew her gaze to him. "Apparently the manager told her to keep her trap shut about this. But it's a load of bullhockey."

"Bull...hockey?"

"That's right." Apparently taking that as agreement rather than confusion at the odd term, Freddy's bear-like hands curled into meaty fists. "Because it is! This isn't like Rebecca! She wouldn't risk our family's lives just for jobs! The boss must have blackmailed her... Yeah, that's it!"

'Something's wrong.' That was the first thing she thought upon seeing a crazed gleam in his eyes. His muscles were extremely tense, and his teeth were bared at nothing.

Midnight recognized that look. It was the look of someone on the verge of snapping.

Midnight hastily flipped through Penny's memories for similar incidents... and her eyes widened.

"H-hey, where's Vee...?" Midnight asked nervously, but even as she scanned her immediate surroundings, the dark-haired girl was nowhere to be seen.

"That's not important right now!" he said brusquely, pacing back and forth agitatedly.

"Actually, it's very important." She slowly back-stepped, towards the door leading to Freddy's section. "Just let me get Vee and we can talk this out, okay?"

Midnight actually flinched when Freddy's eyes narrowed at her. "'We' talk this out? With who?" he asked in a dangerously soft voice. "With Rebecca? So that she can make us tell lies? Or even lie to us?!"

His hand shot out like a Serperior and grabbed her before she could react, causing Penny to yelp. "You're always like this! You always listen and do what Rebecca tells you to, why can't you listen to ME for once?!" he demanded, voice rising to a hysterical pitch. His impossibly tight grip tightened even further, so hard that Midnight was half-sure that her bones will break under the pressure.

"Freddy, listen to me!" Penny pleaded, fingers scrabbling over his hand hopelessly. "Nobody's lying to anyone, we're not going to Baby, we'll just be talking to Vee-"

Her arm was viciously yanked up, and she suddenly found herself inches away from his enraged eyes. Her nose was barely touching his, and she could feel his hot breath on her face. Her legs dangled helplessly in the air. She felt his fingers digging into her skin, and the sharp dagger-like pain in her shoulder.

For the first time, Midnight could fully appreciated the massive size difference between them. Freddy, for all his bumble and clumsiness, had strength that far surpassed the other performers'. He could carry her without breaking a sweat. He could snap her in half without trying.

Her heart seemed to stop beating, and her breaths became frighteningly shallow. She wanted to scream for help, but the words were caught in her throat. No one could hear her. No one could save her from the hulking mass of muscles that had her in its grasp.

At that moment, Midnight felt fear.

"LIAR!" he roared, shaking her like a rag doll. "You always do what Rebecca tells you to, this is no different! How can you be so useless, you-"

"FREDDY!"

He jerked in surprise, and his grip loosened enough for Penny to wriggle free. Immediately putting a distance of several feet between each other, she watched through watering eyes as Vee used her arms to swing herself towards them.

"Freddy, calm down! I'm here!" She clung onto his pants and deftly climbed up to his shoulder. With actions that spoke of years of experience, Vee began shushing and soothing her partner, hands slowly running circles on his back. "It's alright. There's nothing wrong, you're safe here. I promise."

"But-but Baby-"

"Baby's our leader," Vee reminded. "We all asked her to be our leader for a reason, remember?"

"Y-yeah..."

"There you go? See? No reason to freak out, Fred-Fred," she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"But sh-she made us l-lie to the kids..."

"Because there is no point in telling them the truth," she said gently. "They'll probably panic, and what for? Nothing will change the fact that they're gone, except for waiting for the police to come up with something."

Much to Midnight's amazement, the tension in Freddy's muscles gradually seeped away, and his fists unfurled and hung limply by his sides. Just like that, the wee little girl had successfully calmed down a guy five times her size without a single scratch on her.

Midnight felt her respect for Vinna go up exponentially.

As though finally noticing her, Vee made eye contact with her. "You should get back to your station before Baby gets mad again." There was of hint of the teasing girl from the police car, and the look in her eyes made it clear that they would discuss this later.

"Y-yeah, sure," Penny said shakily.

Just as she walked away from the duo and towards her section, however, Midnight realized that the trembling of her legs were not borne from her own fear, but Penny's.

This was the first time that Freddy had physically lashed out at a person, let alone his own sibling. Even in her most recent memories, the worst Freddy had done was to knock a vase from its stand, and that wasn't even intentional on his part. But now...

'It's probably just the stress,' Midnight thought. 'His parents are gone, of course he would be a little high-strung.'

But even as she thought that, the memory of Freddy, more than twice her size, grabbing her arm resurfaced, and the bruises throbbed with remembered pain. Midnight could feel the shadow of her panic when experiencing the full extent of his strength... Or so she hoped. If that wasn't even his full strength, then...then he could very well break someone's bones next time.

"But he wouldn't do that to his own family," Midnight said out loud, stopping in front of the doors. "Right?"

"He wouldn't do what?"

Penny nearly leapt into the metallic doors when the voice spoke directly behind her. "Ashley! Jeez!" she groaned.

The new assistant (actually Melody) giggled, not a single shred of guilt evident in her voice. "Sorry, Sorry! I just thought I heard yelling just now. Is everything alright?"

"Um..." Penny's eyes flickered over her shoulder, where Freddy and Vee were already walking back to their own stage with nary a backward glance. "... Yeah, everything's just peachy."

She could have sworn that Ashley's eyes narrowed at that, but her voice did not change a bit. "That's good. For a moment, I thought it was something serious. Come on, let's go back." Her voice was light, but the hand against her back was forcefully pushing her towards her station.

As they walked through the doors, there was a light finger on her shoulder and a whisper of "Talk to you later", then Ashley was jogging back to the "Arts and Craft" section.

Penny watched her retreating back. "Talk to you later"? Did that mean that Melody already collected information? She could feel her curiosity building up, but too bad she had to wait until the end of her last scheduled time slot. She sighed. Oh well, it couldn't be helped...

At least she didn't have to go out again, which pushed back any future encounters with Freddy to when they returned "home". And better yet, Baby would be around to supervise (whether she'd be bothered to intervene is still a mystery, however). After the earlier encounter, any form of company would be a godsend to her.

Her heart pounded harder, and it took a few deep breaths to slow it back down. What the hell was wrong with her? Sure, it was shocking for both of them when Freddy attacked them, but once the shock wore off, she was confident that she could fend for herself easily.

'Or can you?' a voice taunted. 'You're so small compared to him, how can you hope to beat him down with him breaking you first?'

'Shut up,' she told herself.

'Why should I? You defend yourself by morphing, but you can't do that here, can you? And Penny is such a wimp, she can't squash a Caterpie, much less beat Freddy in a fight.'

'Face it. He's more powerful than you, you can never hope to match up to him.'

Her lips thinned. Her eyes drifted to Melody praising a kid on their drawing. Watching her light laughter and dainty hands guiding the child's, she wondered if Melody felt the same way every time Midnight yelled at her.

~0~

A/N: This was initially meant to be a whole chapter, but I'm now forced to split this one into two parts simply because it is too long. I hope you forgive me for this, if the split seems a little awkward to you.

I hope you guys enjoy this and leave a comment :)


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